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#that’s a joke and also a ‘I think it’s lame to think you’re cancelled before you’ve even done anything but also I get why it may be seen
veganhamsalad · 7 months
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Amnesty please I have a sad backstory
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1d1195 · 23 days
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Okay part two of my ramble lol
(Tw! This is a bit sad so please do NOT feel obligated to read it all or feel obligated to respond at all!)
So I didn’t intentionally mean to be gone that long! But I’ve actually have had a horrible past week or two. I’ve mentioned before I’ve always struggled with mental health from a young age and like I have MDD so to sum it all up I go through depressive episodes quite a bit. I’ve gotten better over the years but sometimes when they hit, they really HIT. So this one was kinda crazy since nothing in particular triggered anything. But it did send me into a spiral that led to some not pleasant thoughts(don’t worry I’m safe and was safe in the moment!) it was really hard. So there was a lot of crying, not sleeping, and eating. Didn’t even have the energy to do anything really, just was so emotionally and mentally drained.
Okay-ish now though! Still pretty exhausted but now I can actually be productive. Got out today to chop all my hair off! Had to go bc I simply cannot afford the late cancellation fee lol my new hair cut is giving Dora for sure but I was SO over having long hair!
Anyways, I also read your post :( I’m so sorry you’re feeling a similar way :( it no joke when feeling like this! I wish you didn’t have to feel like this at all! But I’m glad that you felt comfortable enough to share it. Keeping it all in isn’t always the best and I’m glad that you found a safe place to express it! It takes a-lot to even share so you should feel proud of it! Hope that this soon passes because it can be so exhausting and frustrating. Doing things that make you happy is always great! And I’m glad you had enough energy to read your books! Putting yourself first is a must! Sending you the biggest hug and all the love! Know that you are truly never alone in this ever! I love you so so much. You’re the absolute loviest! Hope you’ll feel better soon my love!-💜
I kind of figured you were having a rough week 💔 I really almost posted a "💜--hope you're doing okay" post because I was realized "Oh no, she hasn't been on in a while." I'm extremely glad you're safe 💕 I'm so sorry you were so down and drained. That's not a fun way to spend any time but certainly not (what I assume is) the last couple weeks of your summer classes :(
I LOVE A HAIR CHOP. Chop off the bad emotions and whatnot (that's lame, sorry, but you'll know what I mean) I can't imagine how exhausted you are. I hope you're sleeping and staying hydrated and you get to do something relaxing/fun for your wellbeing. I LOVE the idea of Dora. I'm sure it's adorable 😊
I feel like I hit a new low last week. Idk what was wrong with me (well I do, but it's a lot of the same stuff I always complain about so I won't bore you with it again) Idk. I'm doing better literally right this second. I read my trashy romance books (in the sports romances: book 3 is a baseball man; a single dad and he falls in love with the nanny HARD--I've been dying to read it but I was waiting until I finished writing Honey so I wouldn't accidentally copy anything, lol. Fortunately I don't think there are many, if any similarities other than nanny and rich people vibes)
I LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH. I wish I could see a blog of all the people telling you how wonderful and talented you are because I'm sure it would be like 3 times bigger than mine 😭 you deserve so much happiness and love and everything 💕💕
xoxo
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miyagihawk · 3 years
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“best friend” | eli “hawk” moskowitz x reader
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a/n: his hair is blue in the gif but red in the story :) also this is a bit long but i love it this is one of my favs
warnings: mentions of violence and cheating, swearing
summary: your boyfriend cheated on you and your best friend hawk is there for you
word count: 4207
You should’ve known. It couldn’t have been more obvious.
The way that he doesn’t let you see what’s on his phone. How he never takes you out anymore. The emotional distance you feel when he kisses you. It’s like he’s not even in the same room when you’re together.
Even with all the signs and evidence, your heart still broke like glass when you saw them together. Your boyfriend Danny and the girl that he always assured you was only his “best friend”, locking lips on his bed.
You had come to Danny’s house because he cancelled plans with you, claiming that he was sick. So you decided to surprise him with cookies that you baked, but he ended up having quite a surprise for you too.
The window of his room gave you a perfect view of the scene, and it was almost like you were meant to see it. Like he wanted you to see it. You stood in front of his house for what seemed like forever, trying to figure it out if it was real.
You tried d to rack your brain for excuses as to why he would do it. But there weren’t any. He was simply cheating on you.
Your heart physically hurt as your brain settled on that fact and you threw the plate of cookies on his lawn in defeat. Not caring if the noise made him look out the window, you began the walk back to your house with blurry vision from your tears.
But on the way there, you passed the house of your best friend Hawk. Seeking comfort from your heartbreak, you made your way to his window that you’ve always used as an entrance when you two hang out.
His light was on and you could hear his music, so you knocked on the glass with the rhythm you both made up to let him know that’s it’s you.
You waited as the music stopped and Hawk pulled back the curtains to reveal you. His red hair was down and framing his face in the way you like it. You’re the only person he allows to see him like that, and that fact always warms your heart.
Hawk looked happy to see you, but his smile dropped when he saw your tear stained cheeks and he quickly opened up the window. Helping you get in, he asked, “Y/N, what happened? Are you okay?”
You stood awkwardly in front of him, playing with your fingers. You weren’t sure if you even wanted to tell Hawk. He’s always hated Danny, and Hawk isn’t the most peaceful of creatures.
You didn’t say anything and just buried your face into his chest. You started to cry again, feeling safe in his arms as he held you tightly.
He led you to the bed to sit you down and let you cry it out in his warm embrace. He was worried about you, he’s never seen you like this; but he wouldn’t force you to talk. So for 15 minutes, Hawk ran his fingers through your hair comfortingly as you calmed down from your sobs.
“I’m sorry,” you spoke for the first time, smoothing down your hair. His shirt was filled with your tear stains, but he really couldn’t care less. He just wanted you to be okay.
“Don’t be sorry. Do you want to talk about it?” he said softly. He had a feeling about why you were crying, and he felt anger starting to bubble in his stomach.
You contemplated for a moment, not knowing if you should tell him. You knew Hawk. He would seek revenge on your behalf and it would end in blood.
But he would also find out anyways. If not from seeing Danny at school with the other girl, then he would probably put the pieces together if you told him that you broke up.
The only difference in the outcomes would be that right now you’re in control of how he finds out and you could possibly convince him to leave the situation alone.
“I-It’s Danny,” you breathed, feeling queasy about your decision.
You saw something flash in Hawk’s eyes and his fist tightened at the mention of your (ex) boyfriend’s name. “What did that fucker do,” he said, with a frightening, calm anger.
“Just... Don’t get mad, okay?” you stuttered. You could almost feel the change in the air just from the two words you spoke. Hawk unclenched his jaw and nodded, trying to be calm for you.
“I went to his house, and that was before I came here. And... I saw him with...,” your voice quavered as tears started blurring your vision again. It hurt to say it out loud and you couldn’t even finish your sentence.
Hawk abruptly stood up from beside you, and through your tear filled eyes, you could see the rage on his face. “I’m killing him,” was all he said, as he moved around the room to get his keys and jacket.
You stood up when he got to the door, and you pulled on his arm to make him stop. “Hawk, please. Stop,” you cried, but he was determined to make Danny hurt the way you were hurt. He wanted to hurt him more.
“That asshole was lucky to even have you look at him, Y/N. He’s fucking dead,” Hawk spit, taking his arm from you and making his way to the front door.
“Hawk! Just- stop. Stop! He isn’t worth it. Can you just stay here with me?” you whimpered, and at that moment his face fell. “Just stay, please. I need you.”
You saw the conflict on his face; the pity for you and his hatred for the boy who broke you. But with you in front of him, with puffy eyes and a cute red nose, he knows there’s no way he can leave.
The rest of the night, Hawk took care of you. He ordered in pizza from your favorite place and watched your favorite Disney movie with you, even though he always called it lame. His jokes made you laugh uncontrollably as if you hadn’t just gotten cheated on hours earlier. As always, your best friend was there to save the day.
“I’m sorry Y/N,” he said quietly as he played with your hair. It was already 1 am and you were both laying on his bed. You were exhausted from the day’s events; the thought of school the next day, especially seeing Danny, made you want to throw up.
“You were right,” you whispered, closing your eyes. Hawk had always been wary of Danny, and he often let you know it.
“Well, you see the best in everyone,” you felt the vibration of his voice from his chest, where you rested your head.
“What do you mean?” you looked up at him, struggling to read his face in the dark. His face was turned towards the ceiling in deep thought.
Hawk cleared his throat. “You see the good in people... and that’s my favorite thing about you. But sometimes you’re just so blind to the bad,” he explained.
You stayed quiet, thinking about his words and not really knowing how to interpret them. He continued, “I guess I’m trying to say that you’re different from normal people; you see through rose colored glasses. You dated that scumbag because you’re so loving that you saw the good in him, even if there’s fucking barely any.”
You laughed at the remark, then let him go on. “Even with me. I do shit that make people hate me. I throw punches that I regret and start fights that make me a horrible person in other people’s eyes. But you don’t really think of me like that, no matter how much I mess up. You’re the only person in my life who doesn’t see me as my fuck ups,” Hawk poured his heart out. “But I promise, I would never take advantage of you like him. Just keep living in your little world, alright? Don’t let him ruin that.”
You were left speechless. He had never said something so heartfelt to you and you wanted to cry at how sweet it was. You’ve never really thought about his view of you, but you guess it’s true. Sometimes your blind optimism gets you hurt, but you’re thankful that it helped you find your best friend. Yes, he’s not an angel, but if you listened to what everyone was saying about him, then you two would be strangers.
“I love you Hawk,” was all you said, and you kissed his cheek before cuddling into his side. He returned a kiss into your hair before the both of you drifted off into peaceful sleep.
-
The brightness of the sun woke you up from your dreams, and it took you a minute to adjust your eyes. Memories of yesterday flooded back, but you didn’t really feel sad.
The new day gave you a new perspective. You were grateful that you caught Danny, because if you didn’t, you might’ve never known. It still hurt that he betrayed you; you did love him. But wallowing in sadness would give him too much credit. He was a shit boyfriend and you vowed to cry no more tears over him.
The bed was empty, with no trace of your red haired best friend. In his place was a piece of paper with what you recognized as Hawk’s terrible handwriting.
‘Good morning you terrible snorer. Just kidding you didn’t snore. That loud. I’m sorry I didn’t wake you up for school, you looked really tired and I think you should just have the day for yourself. I have karate later so you don’t have to wait for me, but you can stay if you want. There’s more ice cream in the freezer. Love you. -H’
You smiled as you read it, feeling thankful for how caring Hawk was. You were dreading going to school and facing Danny, but you would’ve forced yourself to go anyways. Hawk probably knew that, so he gave you no choice.
The first part of the day you did some therapeutic cleaning, picking up the pizza boxes and trash from last night.
Then you explored around his room, even though you’ve been in it a thousand times. You went through the comics he used to read and you tried playing his video games, but you didn’t know how to turn it on.
You were already bored by the second hour of being alone, so you decided to head to your own house to freshen up.
‘I went home, I’ll see you tomorrow? Thank you for everything, I don’t know what I would do without you. Also I’ll buy you more ice cream lol I finished it’ you typed a text to Hawk as you walked home, smiling to yourself. 
After a relaxing day alone of face masks and dancing to Lizzo, you were prepared to go to school the next day. You really appreciated that Hawk made you stay home; you needed this time to reflect on everything. You don’t need some boy who doesn’t give you the time of day, when you have Hawk.
-
As you got ready to go to school, you felt like a bad bitch, and you looked like one. No one would ever guess that you’ve just been through a breakup. The heartbreak didn’t last long; you just felt like you’ve dropped some unneeded weight.
You got to school, but Hawk wasn’t waiting at the front for you as usual. It was weird, because he never said anything about missing class. You figured he was just running late. 
But when he never showed up to your shared first period class, it made you worry.
‘Hey, did you not go to school today? Everything good?’ you sent him a quick text as you walked through the halls to your next class.
You were feeling anxious, a contrast from your earlier confidence. You didn’t think you’d be alone today and now you really didn’t want to see Danny without Hawk by your side.
But as if you summoned him and the universe hated you, your cheating ex boyfriend was coming from the other end of the hall. Your eyes met at the exact same moment and you wanted to look away, but you couldn’t.
A black eye adorned his face, matched with a bruised jaw and a wounded lip.
His eyes frantically searched around you as if he was looking for someone. He looked scared.
Suddenly, your brain put all of the puzzle pieces together and you came to a realization. Hawk did this, and he wasn’t at school because he probably got suspended.
Danny tried to move past you, but you grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side of the hallway. He didn’t meet your eyes as you stood in front of him.
“Danny... what happened?” you asked, even though you already knew the answer.
You didn’t know how to feel. You know you should be angry that Hawk didn’t listen to you, but you felt no pity towards the boy in front of you.
Danny scoffed. “You know what happened. Your little boyfriend started the fight, saying shit about how I don’t deserve you and I’m a cheating asshole.”
You rolled your eyes. “One, he’s not my boyfriend. Two, he’s right, you don’t deserve me. And three, you are a cheating asshole. You said Emily was just your friend, but I should’ve known. I saw you,” you snapped, but he shook his head and laughed.
“You don’t see it, do you? That you’re just as guilty as me?” Danny sneers.
“What?” you blink in confusion.
“Oh come on Y/N. You were always his. It was him first, and then me. But he was just your “best friend”, right? Don’t act all innocent, when anyone can see that you have feelings for him.”
Your mouth falls open slightly at his words, and he continues, “Look I’m sorry that it went down like this, but you should be with him. We’re just not meant for each other and it’s obvious that you love him more than you’ve ever loved me. And he loves you too. Otherwise I wouldn’t be looking like this. We’re fine, alright? Goodbye Y/N.”
Danny gives you a tight lipped smile before leaving, but you’re left staring into space, speechless. You didn’t expect anything he just told you and you don’t even know if you believe it.
Is he right? Do you love Hawk, like that? You’ve felt like the victim the whole time, but you never would’ve thought that Danny felt like one too.
You began to feel guilty, looking back on the relationship at times when you would leave dates with Danny to pick up Hawk when he’s in trouble. When you would choose to sleepover at Hawk’s house instead of Danny’s because he had a breakdown. And when sometimes you’re a little bit too affectionate with your best friend, but you’ve always excused it as platonic even though his forehead kisses gave you butterflies.
Maybe you really weren’t all that innocent.
Maybe you did love Hawk more than Danny, and maybe you’re only just now realizing it.
-
The pattern of the knocking at your window made your stomach turn.
You’re not sure if you’re ready to face Hawk after your revelation, because after thinking on it for the rest of the day, all signs pointed to him. Every single thing Danny said was right.
You love Hawk.
The only thing you aren’t sure of is how Danny said he loves you too. You’ve always thought that Hawk sees you as a little sister and strictly as a best friend, which is why he’s so protective. The possibility that confessing your feelings could ruin your relationship created a conflict within you.
You opened your window and there he was. He had a gash right above his brow, presumably from Danny, but he didn’t look half as bad as the boy he beat up.
You saw Hawk in a different light as he stood like Romeo before you. It was as if the realization of your feelings for him made his eyes look more beautiful and his lips look softer, and you no longer had to faithfully push those thoughts away.
“Hey,” was all he said, as he stumbled in through the sill into your room. His hair was down again, because he knew you liked it like that and he hoped it would help you not be too mad at him.
“Hi,” you said awkwardly, walking back to sit on your bed where he followed. He sat close to you so that your shoulders were touching, and even though he’s been closer, it made you feel lightheaded.
“Look, Y/N, I’m sorry, I know you said to leave it alone, but he hurt you, and I needed to-”
“I’m not mad,” you interrupted his nervous rambling.
“Oh,” his shoulders relaxed, but his fingers were still nervously tapping on his knees.
There’s a weird silence between you two, and it was out of the ordinary that you didn’t have something to talk about.
“Are you alright?” you finally looked at him for the first time since you both sat down.
You don’t know what compelled you to do it, but you lifted up your hand to lightly trace your fingers along his brow where the cut was. His ocean eyes were on you as you did it, but you felt nervous to meet them.
“I’m fine. Did you see him?” Hawk said in a light tone, smiling as you touched his skin.
You let out a quiet laugh. “Yes. Nice work,” you mused.
You pulled your hand away from his face, but he grabbed it before you could put it down. He moved your hand back to his skin, releasing millions of butterflies in your stomach. “I like it,” he said, and you only nodded.
“So how long are you out for?” you questioned, referring to his suspension.
“Three days,” he mumbled, eyes closing in relaxation as you started touching his hair. You sighed in response. “It was worth it though.”
He still had his eyes shut when you put down your hand and wrapped your arms around him. He blinked in surprise, then held you closer. “Thank you. You’re the only one who would take a punch for me,” you said, pouring gratitude into the embrace.
“I don’t think that’s true, but you’re welcome,” he rested his head in the crook of your shoulder and you felt his hair tickle your ear. “It was for me too, you know? I hated his guts.”
You responded with a hum of understanding, still grasping onto him like he could leave any moment.
He pulled back from you enough to see your face, and he looked concerned while he tried to read you. “What’s wrong?”
You really underestimated how much he knows you, because he sensed your anxiety even though you tried to mask it.
“Nothing’s wrong,” you offered a smile, but he wasn’t convinced.
“Did you talk to him?” he asked, rubbing soft circles on your hand. He knew you were thinking about something and he wanted you to open up, but he was always delicate with it.
You just nodded, feeling your palms getting sweaty. Talking about your conversation with Danny would bring up what he said about you and Hawk, and you weren’t even sure if you wanted to spill your heart yet. You internally cursed at yourself for not hiding your emotions well enough.
“Did he say shit to you? I swear if-”
“No. We just... talked,” you cut him off. You prayed that he would leave the topic, but he didn’t.
“What about?” he pressed, making you feel hot from nerves.
“Uh... I just asked him about what happened,” you answered, but there was no way he couldn’t hear the shake in your voice.
“Then what’s bothering you? You can talk to me Y/N,” he said softly, a worried look in his eyes. You felt bad keeping secrets from him, because that’s something you never did.
“Promise me we’ll always be best friends,” your voice shook, making his face twist up in confusion.
“What? Of course. Hey, nothing could change that alright?” he looked at you with his soft eyes.
You swallowed, feeling a bit better by his reassurance.
“He- He just said some things that made me think about... us. And I was blind to it, but- he’s right. Well he’s right about me, I don’t really know how you feel, but now I’m just so confused- and for some reason him cheating on me felt justified in a way? I-” you rambled anxiously, until Hawk stopped your frenzy of word vomit.
“Woah, woah, slow down Y/N... just... what? What is he right about? And how could that be justified? There’s no excuse for what he did Y/N,” his voice raised at the mere thought of Danny gaslighting you into thinking that somehow you deserved to be cheated on.
“No- I- I know it was shitty but... Hawk,” you took a deep breath to prepare yourself for your confession. “I think I cheated too. But not like him. I- I cheated emotionally,” you spit the words out, not only admitting it to him, but also to yourself.
The red haired boy’s face was blank in confusion as he processed what you had just said. “Y/N what the fuck are you talking about?”
You struggled to reach his eyes while you carefully tried to think through your answer. You felt like if you looked at him you would simply melt, but maybe in this case it would be a good thing.
He put his hand gently under your chin to tilt your face towards his, forcing you to meet his blue, puzzled eyes. You wanted to burst into tears under his gaze, because you had no idea what to do.
Hiding your feelings could ruin your friendship. Confessing has the same chance. So which are you supposed to choose?
“Hey, hey, it’s alright. I love you. I love you so fucking much Y/N and that’s forever. Nothing you say or do could change that,” Hawk said, rubbing your hand comfortingly. He thought you were hesitating in telling him because you were afraid of his judgment.
Those three words. They felt different this time. They made you more dizzy. More fluttery. The way he said it was the same as all the other times, but the way it made you feel was just so different.
It gave you such a high that you decided to take a leap of faith before you could fully think it through. A leap that you know deep down was always going to happen, even if it looked like there were two choices. You could regret it, but you just jumped.
“I love you. I mean, I’m in love with you, Eli. I’ve always been in love with you.”
You felt like you needed to run away right as you said it, as if the words were a bomb that you didn’t want to see the aftermath of. You didn’t want to see the outcome because you were afraid it would just leave you devastated.
Eli.
His mouth slightly fell open at the use of his old name, next to your piercing confession.
For some reason it slipped out of your mouth, but it felt right. You’ve probably said it five times ever since “Hawk” was born, but it was only used in serious conversations. Like when you comforted him after his dad died. Or when you were so worried about him when he ran away from home for a week.
“I’m so sorry, Eli,” you said, after hearing the news.
“I missed you so much, Eli, never fucking do that again,” you cried into his shoulder when he showed up at your door.
It was like a code between the two of you that you were being nothing but genuine.
Hawk sat in shock in front of you, and you swore you could actually see the escalation of thoughts running through his head.
“Maybe it took an asshole like Danny to make me realize it, but he was right. I’ve never loved anyone more than I love you... and I knew that, but it’s just how it’s always been. I thought we would go through life together but be with other people, even though I would always put you first. I thought that it was just an us thing, you know? Best friends. But I just- I realized that I don’t even need anyone else. I only need you,” you scanned his eyes for a moment before continuing. “I know I won’t love anyone else like I love you. And- and god, I’m just pouring my heart out and I don’t even know how you feel... I’m sorry if this is too much.”
He stared at you, stunned, and you heard your heart pounding in your chest violently as you waited for him to say something.
But instead of speaking, you felt the softness of his lips on yours before you could think another thought.
a/n: wow i think that was the longest thing i have ever written and i wasn’t sure if i was going to end it like that :0 anyways hope u enjoyed love u all!
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gale-gentlepenguin · 3 years
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ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 36
Sorry about the delay. But now its here and its ready for consumption.
Also, Shout to @asongeverlasting for beta reading for me and making sure I actually got this out.
Check her writing out on AO3 as ShamelesslyRomantic,
(Master post)
(Read the fic in a more condensed on Ao3)
_____________________________________________________________
“Finished,” the artist akuma stated as he addressed his master.
Masquerade got up from her throne to look at the room. The classroom had been transformed into a rather spacious throne room. The artist had erased and redrawn walls to ensure the room was much larger. This new space also had several large windows adorned with elegant black and white curtains hanging from the top. Reflekta servants decked out in masquerade themed armor stood at attention on each step leading to her throne. Beautiful artwork of her decorated the walls, including an imposing portrait of her behind her throne that made it look as if she was looking down at everyone looking up at it. To her that came off as self-interested yet tasteful. The masked akuma even loved the addition of a red carpet that led up to her throne.
“This is quite satisfactory, Evillustrator. Just be sure to reinforce the walls of the room then head to the roof and locate Simularé. I want this place to be a fortress,” Masquerade ordered
“Understood,” the akuma nodded, his expression unreadable from the white face mask. He quickly headed to the door out of the room and Stone heart was guarding the door with his large frame and had to let the artist out.
“Gamer! Robostus! Status report!”
“We have made it so we could hack into every screen in Paris that is connected to the internet, as per your request,” the Gamer responded in monotone.
Masquerade smiled at that.
“Excellent. Do we have the cameras ready?”
The Reflekta copies near the robot akuma were being outfitted with recording gear.
“Affirmative, we will be ready to go live at your request.”
The masked akuma smiled at that news, she turned her attention to Princess Fragrance and the original Reflekta, who had just finished turning the last of the captured individuals into obedient copies of her.
“Has everyone in the school been rounded up and handled?”
“Dark Cupid and Reverser are doing a final sweep of any runaway stragglers. Stormy weather is going around flooding and freezing any empty hallways to flush out any that are hiding. There are Reflekta copies guarding the blocked off exits should anyone try and escape. But over 96% of the student body has been accounted for and 99% of all Faculty.” Princess Fragrance answered.
‘The missing ones are likely Marinette and Adrien. Those two never did make anything easy for me, did they? But it didn’t matter, their luck would run out soon enough. Once Ladybug and Chat noir were handled, then I could focus on making them pay,’ Masquerade grinned to herself.
She could picture how it would be, finding them and seeing their desperate faces as they realized that no hero would be able to save them. The first thing she would do was show them both her little empire. They thought she was bad when she had the school wrapped around her finger, they will be mortified when they see Paris. She would have all their friends and family captured, their best friends leading the cruel treatment of the rest. This would have them in tears and begging for mercy.
She did once consider letting Adrien be her boyfriend, with some perfume to sway him. He would have been a perfect boytoy to taunt Marinette with, but Masquerade realized how far above him she was now. She didn’t need him anymore, and truthfully, he was just as bad as Marinette, if not worse. Marinette had the audacity to dislike her and challenge her, but Adrien, he was so condescending, acting like she should be better than her actions. She could swear she saw pity in his eyes, and that was so much worse.
Though she wasn’t completely heartless, if they begged to be her personal servants and apologized for standing against her, then maybe she would let them have some mercy. Having Marinette clean up after her and make those admittedly delicious baked goods would be nice and having Adrien wait on her hand and foot like a personal butler would be quite fun. Maybe they would think if they did a good enough job their families would suffer less.
She did want to daydream about that idea more but she knew that she needed to focus on the present.
“Alright, Let’s start moving to stage 2. Gamer! I want a comprehensive list of every akuma victim outside of the school. Robostus! Make sure the cameras and broadcast are ready when I tell you. I want everything to go off without a hitch.”
“Affirmative!” Gamer and Robostus responded in equal robotic unison.
“Reflekta! Princess Fragrance! After all of the copies pick up the stragglers, I want you scanning the area for Ladybug and Chat noir. Bubbler and Lady Wifi… wait. I think I remember something.”
She paused to check her charm, she noticed the question mark charm and touched it, allowing her to focus and see what akuma it was.
“Cancel that order, remain on standby unless we get approached.”
“Yes… so this is what that voice meant by merging. How very interesting. I think I will let that new akuma keep its directive. Ladybug and Chat noir will have no chance of beating...”
An akuma merged with Lady Wifi, Bubbler and Oblivio. Combined to make something new. Something that she knew even the heroes would have trouble fighting.
“Deadzone.” Masquerade said with a devilish grin.
______________________________________________________________________________
Ladybug and Chat Noir made their way down the hall. They easily dealt with a few Reflekta clones without much effort and continued moving.
They were expecting to see more akuma lurking about, but strangely, the halls they were walking down were all either empty or only covered by Reflekta duplicates.
“Masquerade likely has her stronger forces consolidating after bringing in as many people to her as they could. Those that didn’t hit the mark likely got turned into the copies we bumped into.” Ladybug answered.
“That does explain why they were singing, like when Princess Fragrance made servants,” the cat hero added.
“This might be our only time to catch a break before confronting her.”
“So, since we have time, do you mind if I ask if you're free to go on Patrol tonight?” the cat hero casually inquired.
Ladybug stopped.
“Tonight? That is quite sudden. Plus, we still don’t know how this will play out.” Ladybug gestured to the school.
“Well I am going to assume we stop the akuma and save the day like always.” Chat noir commented. “Call it a safe bet, but we usually win.”
“Always the positive outlook, Chaton. I’m glad you have so much faith in us despite our numbers disadvantage.”
“You said it yourself, most of the servants are pushovers or just puppets. The only real threat is Lila. And we have faced worse."
“True, but not anything this sinister,” Ladybug tacked on.
“Didn’t we fight Hawkmoth a couple of months back?” Chat noir asked with a twinge of confusion. Was Ladybug implying what he thought she was?
Ladybug held her tongue.
“You’re kidding right? You think Lila is eviler than Hawkmoth!” Chat Noir exclaimed in shock.
“No no no! Not eviler … just a bit cleverer than him,” Ladybug confessed.
Chat noir looked at his partner skeptically, but then considered her words.
“She is manipulative. Considering even without being akumatized she has done some rather twisted stuff. But thinking she is evil is a bit much. Especially when there is someone responsible for forcing emotionally vulnerable people to do his bidding,” Chat noir pointed out.
“Isn’t that what she is doing right now?”
“Yes, but she was akumatized. If we started blaming people for their actions as akuma we would have to throw innocent people in jail.”
“Right… but you read that article on the Ladyblog right? She could be more than just a victim of Hawkmoth, she could be an ally.”
The Cat hero thought about it more but was still not entirely convinced.
“I guess underestimating her would be dumb, but maybe she isn’t completely evil. I mean Chloé ended up showing a bit of humanity and did some good, maybe Lila is capable of it too.”
The crimson clad heroine smiled a bit.
“That’s what I like about you, Chat, you always focus on the good in others.”
The black clad hero gave a Cheshire grin.
“When it comes to the team, you’re the brains, and I’m the sidekick who brings the smiles and the heartfelt speeches.”
“You aren’t my sidekick, Chat Noir, we are partners. And you could be the brains too, if you would use yours outside of pun making.” Ladybug playfully bonked his noggin.
The cat chuckled at the playful teasing.
“Fair enough, but I can’t help it if I FELINE making a quip.”
Ladybug could feel herself groan at the lame joke.
“I take it back… you are the sidekick,” Ladybug deadpanned, her tone of mock annoyance causing the cat to chuckle.
“Alright I’ll…” He stopped speaking as he noticed something was amiss.
Chat Noir’s left ear twitched. He heard approaching footsteps.
“We better get moving, this abandoned hallway isn’t going to be so abandoned in a minute.”
“More Reflekta clones?”
Chat Noir extended the staff to the ground, his face showing a sudden sternness.
“No… Winter is coming.”
______________________________________________________________________________
Viperion peered through the door of the locker room.
“Clear.”
The snake and dragon heroes entered with their akuma prisoner.
“Pick a locker and let’s toss her in,” Ryuuko commented as she held the squirming akuma.
The two paused their movement when they heard a rustling in the lockers.
“Do you hear that?” Viperion questioned.
“How could I not?” Ryuuko replied.
Just as the two stared at the rustling lockers. The two shaking lockers doors flew off their hinges.
And stepped out an akuma that neither hero recognized.
“I don’t remember seeing that akuma before,” Ryuuko stated.
“Neither do I, but it seems vaguely familiar,”  Viperion responded.
As the Akuma was gathering its bearings, the heroes tried to gauge its powers. It had broad shoulders that had spherical, dark purple balls around them, which were connected to tight black sleeves with 3 white circular stripes at the end that ended at his wrists. Its left hand had a fingerless black glove which showed its skin akin to a purple silhouette. The other hand was what appeared to be a black laser canon with a phone attached to it. On its back was a large red, purple and black pipe which seemed to act as a holster to a blue bubble wand.  Its face was obscured by a large white theater mask much like all the other akuma. But there was the impression that it had distinct features. Its chest had a rounded purple bubble on the top half of its body akin to round armor and it had a logo that appeared to be a WiFi signal within an eye in a cage. The lower half appeared more akin to a skintight jumpsuit that was black with white stripes at the feet.
The akuma turned its attention to the two heroes.
“So umm… what are you doing in the locker room?”
“Merge complete, Deadzone is active. Mission objective, Capture Ladybug and Chat Noir,” The akuma answered in a robotic tone less as a response to the question and more as a statement, their voice sounded like the mix of two people.
“Well, Deadzone, we can’t let you do that!”  Ryuuko exclaimed as she glared at the akuma.
The akuma pointed its blaster at her.
“Your opinion on that really doesn’t have an impact on us.”
Deadzone’s left hand touched the phone on their blaster, and a purple bubble with a pause insignia shot out. Ryuuko and Viperion both jumped back as the bubble had direct contact with their akuma prisoner, causing her to be motionless as the bubble turned green and floated to the roof of the room.
“Okay, so don’t touch the bubbles,” Viperion noted.
“Positive side, we don’t need to worry about that one akuma,” Ryuuko commented.
Viperion and Ryuuko knew this akuma would be trouble if it got to Ladybug and Chat noir. They were going to need to find a way to stop it.
______________________________________________________________________
Fu had been observing the spoiled Mayor’s daughter after her confrontation with the Reflekta replicas. Using it as a means to help him find Ladybug and Chat Noir. He was aware that this girl had a knack for getting into trouble and making akuma target her, so it would not be too far off to assume she would be useful in locating his chosen. He would have called her, but communication was down, so he would need to adapt. But now he had a rather interesting quandary.
“Should I lend her the miraculous or not?” Fu spoke quietly as he pondered.
It was a tougher question he had initially thought. If he was asked if she was worthy of being a miraculous user, the answer would undoubtedly be negative. She was clearly a spoiled brat who saw herself above others. But after the events when the bee miraculous temporarily fell into her hands, he had started observing her. He did this with all of the chosen ones that Marinette had picked. Not because he didn’t trust his student, but more out of curiosity of why Marinette picked these individuals.
With the one she picked for the fox miraculous, Fu could see that the girl valued justice, but was cunning and saw the importance of distinguishing truth from illusion, an ideal pick for the fox miraculous. As for the Turtle miraculous wielder, Wayzz spoke highly of Nino, which really made him curious about the young lad. That boy showed a willingness to protect those close to him even if it meant getting hurt, and the calm to be ready to wait and roll with things. The miraculous of protection required someone that can keep a cool head and be ready to defend at the drop of a hat.
The other temporary heroes matched pretty well with the traits of the Kwami and were all good people deep down. Fu had no doubts that Marinette had the instincts of a guardian. The only one that brought doubt was Chloé. After the incident where she found the miraculous and got akumatized, Chloé was trusted with the bee miraculous 3 times. And her record had been mixed but overall she was decent when she fell in line and worked with Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Marinette mentioned that she didn’t want to trust Chloé with the miraculous after the last time. But has admitted to Fu that if needed she was a decent Bee heroine.
But if he was wrong and she decided to use this chance to stay being a miraculous wielder, he would have to deal with her as a rogue. Though, considering the circumstances, that would honestly not be the worst situation, as her identity was public and Ladybug and Chat Noir would deal with her like before.
“Wayzz, what do you think?”
His kwami companion popped out of his shirt pocket.
“This is quite a dilemma, Master. The situation is dire, but putting the miraculous in the wrong hands would also make things worse. Perhaps Pollen would be able to give better insight.”
“Very true, my friend.” Fu patted the kwami.
Fu cautiously went into the cleaning cart and pulled out the Bee Miraculous. The bee kwami popped out.
“Good morning, Master,” Pollen greeted the guardian with respect.
“Good afternoon, Pollen. We have a situation and I would like to know your opinion.”
“Very well, I am happy to serve,” The bee kwami replied.
“What do you think of Chloé Bourgeois? The one that used your miraculous recently.”
The kwami put her little hand to her face as she compiled her thoughts.
“She is complicated, Master. She didn’t talk to me much but I kind of got to feel a lot about who she was as a person. She is brash, she is confident, yet she is insecure. She is blunt, stubborn, and set in her ways. But I can tell that she is at a crossroads in her life. There is some small part of her that wants to be good and do good for others outside of herself, but her upbringing has made such a mindset seem like weakness, and she is scared of letting herself be vulnerable. Ladybug has been a good influence on her, but she is still immature in several aspects. She has the potential to be a good queen. If she could break through that self-imposed selfish mentality, she could be something extraordinary,” Pollen explained, finally.
“I see, well that is quite informative. Thank you,” Fu responded, nodding thoughtfully.
He put the Bee Miraculous back in a tiny box, causing her to go dormant.
“So, she is at a crossroad.”  Fu repeated as he stroked his chin
He turned his attention back to Chloé, who had continued walking towards another dead end. When he caught the eye of approaching Reflekta clones. And with that, Fu figured out a way to know.
“I think I just found a way to know the correct answer.”
______________________________________________________________________
“I swear this place is a maze.” Mayura grumbled to herself as she walked the halls.
She noticed her fan shake, notifying her of someone calling. It was Hawkmoth
“Yes?”
“Mayura what are you doing?! You were supposed to find the target and get out!” Hawkmoth exclaimed angrily. “And why did you transform? You knowutilizing the Peacock Miraculous is dangerous.”
Though she wouldn’t admit it, she was somewhat touched by the concern in his voice. Unfortunately, she did not have time to dwell on that so she was going to ignore it, as she had a task at hand
“Some unforeseen circumstances have caused some rather unfortunate delays. I am going to locate the sentimonster and gather information regarding the target. Afterwards, I will assist in getting Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.” Mayura responded.
As she was speaking, an akuma with black wings flew into view along with an akuma riding a paper airplane.
“Seems the akuma servants have located me.”
She notices the akuma began preparing to attack her. They were practically mindless puppets that saw anyone who wasn’t their master as an enemy. This was quite an oversight, but it fit with the motif of the akuma villain. She felt the emotions of that girl, she knew exactly the type of insecurities Lila held. Thankfully for her, it meant they could easily be exploited.
“Get out of there this instant it is too dangerous. You are in no shape to…”
The akumas aimed at the unidentified villainess and fired off paper airplanes and arrows.
“We will discuss this later.” Mayura hung up before turning her attention to the two servants of Masquerade.
Mayura dashed through the hall, expertly avoiding projectiles and blocking with her fan those she couldn’t dodge. She jumped onto Reverser’s glider, grabbed the akuma and threw him at the flying Dark Cupid, leaving the two dazed and tangled together.
“I’m weakened, not helpless,” Mayura commented as she dusted herself off and hopped off the floating paper airplane.
She noticed that the two akuma that attacked her were slow in getting up.
‘Seems the akuma created by Masquerade aren’t just mindless, they are also rather slow in reacting. Ladybug and Chat Noir can exploit that. I suppose with the number of servants she made, this was to be expected. I should locate Simularé and get some details on our akuma’s little plan. I should step in and seize control if she gets too distracted like the last one. Gabriel has always been far too cautious when it comes to his plans, it’s time we were more active.’ Mayura mentally concluded.
She closed her eyes and focused on locating the sentimonster.
“She is on the roof. Odd placement for her most powerful ally, but I suppose there must be some sort of logical reason for what she is planning,” Mayura rationalized.
The peacock themed villainess noticed that the akuma that attacked her were starting to move again, and she decided to pick up her pace a bit.
______________________________________________________________________________
“This is super ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” she exclaimed with anger. “Not a single exit in this place! Why is every exit coated in icky slime?”
She checked her phone.
“And still no signal.”
She ended up chucking her phone out of frustration.
“I wish Ladybug would just get here and beat the akuma, or better yet, come here and give me the bee miraculous so I can help kick butt,” she grumbled as she went to go see where she threw her phone. She'd remembered she actually liked the case she just bought for it and losing that would be a waste.
“H-help me please!” The wails of a person in danger caught Chloé’s attention.
“That sounds like a non-me issue,” the blonde told herself. As she continued walking to her phone.
“If only there was someone here to save me!” the voice called out again.
Chloé stopped moving for a moment.
“Well I am not a hero without the Bee, so I guess he better hope Ladybug and Chat Noir are nearby, or maybe those other two costumed nobodies that I saw earlier,” she said, clearly trying to convince herself not to do anything.
“Please! Ladybug! Chat Noir…. “
"The heroes will handle it." Chloé reasoned with herself as she picked up her phone. Now getting ready to go somewhere else and likely away from the screaming.
“ And a…Queen Bee.”
Chloé’s eyes went wide. Did someone call out for… Queen Bee?!
Chloé started dashing down the halls to the sound of the voice.
“Did someone call for a hero!” Chloé called out, looking confident.
She arrived to see an old man in an ugly Hawaiian shirt being cornered by 3 Reflekta copies. The akuma copies turn to Chloé.
“Surrender,” they sing-songed as they began to approach.
Chloé ran right at them, and proceeded to push them into each other, and let the impractical heels make it hard for them to get back up.
She rushed to the old man.
“Don’t worry, old man with good taste in heroes and nothing else. I, Queen Bee, am here to save you,” Chloé blustered.
“Thank you.” Fu said with a forced smile. She clearly only came when he mentioned her name. But she did show up. In hindsight, maybe his test was not as conclusive as he thought. But then again, he actually planned those out more.
Chloé looked around.
“Alright old man, normally I would have just left you to get saved by Ladybug, but you have good taste in heroes, so I am going to help you out. We need to move before those creepy akumas get back up. So follow me, I know a place you can hide out.” Her tone tried to come off as abrasive, but it did show an inkling of care.
Chloé began moving away from the cluster of Reflektas. The old man shrugged and followed behind. He supposed that this would be another good test for her. Maybe he will get a more definitive answer by keeping an eye on her. And if worse comes to worse, he had a feeling she would make a good distraction should he need to escape a band of akuma.
______________________________________________________________________
“Did you just make a...”
Ladybug was able to pick up on the sound of harsh wind heading their way and decided her scolding of lame references could wait for later. She grabbed her partner's arm and pulled him into the nearby science lab.
She quickly closed the door just as a cold front blasted right past them. The window on the door was covered in ice.
“Stormy Weather?”
“Stormy Weather.”
The two both look at each other with a bit of worry. The storm akuma was one of their more powerful foes, and with complete control of the weather in such a tight space, things were going to get tough.
“Any ideas?”
Ladybug weighed her options. Would now be the time to use her lucky charm? or should she save it for when they are in front of Masquerade? It was starting to get harder to make that call.
“We can’t have her roaming the halls, we will need to incapacitate her. So I say have your ice power up ready, and be ready to swap power ups at the drop of a hat. Stormy Weather may be tough, but we still have tricks up our sleeve.”
Chat Noir nodded.
“Sounds like a plan.”
Ladybug and Chat Noir both popped their Ice blue power ups and shift into their Ice forms. The two watched as the other’s suit gained ice skates, ice crystal and snowflake accents, becoming Ladyice and Icecat.
(AN: Yes, according to the Wiki, that’s what they are calling them. Personally, I would have called them Ladyfrost and Cold noir/ Cool Cat but that’s just me. This isn’t relevant to the story, I just wanted you all to know that.)
“You know, Ladybug, you really give off the ice skater vibe. Would you say you have experience ice skating outside of this form?” Chat Noir asked.
Ladybug felt her mind flash to her date with Adrien and her cheeks turned red.
“I- I may have some experience. And how about you, Kitty?” she deflected.
“Well, now that you mention it, I…”
They heard a loud bang on the door, cracking the ice that covered the window to reveal the white theater mask that Stormy Weather had covering her face.
“I’m gonna give it to her, she really knows how to break the Ice,” Chat Noir joked.
“Chaton, cool it with all of the ice puns,” she stated.
“Wait, was that a pun? My Lady I... OH SHI…”
A large ice stalactite burst through the door interrupting their banter and almost skewering them.
Chat Noir was about to say something when Ladybug cut in.
“Chat Noir, you are my partner and I respect you greatly. But so help me, if you say we should put this conversation on ‘Freeze’, I will not save you if you get impaled.” Ladybug stated.
Chat Noir paused.
“You know me so well,” he said with a smile.
The two watched as Stormy Weather entered the room through the stalactite hole.
______________________________________________________________________
“Hey Viperion?”
“Yea Ryuuko?”
“We both agree that we need to stop that crazy akuma right?”
“That is correct.”
“Then why are you carrying me away from it!?” Ryuuko exclaimed.
Viperion had picked up the dragon heroine fireman style in order to pull her away from the pursuing akuma.
“Do you want the reasons in alphabetical order?” the snake hero sassed.
“We can take it,” Ryuuko asserted. “We can’t retreat! There is no honor in it!”
“Well considering neither of our weapons can touch them, the concept of honor has flown out the window. Not to mention, I seriously doubt that we can take them on without a plan, and don’t say ‘try to hit them harder’ is a plan. It isn’t.”
Viperion had a smug look as he noticed Ryuuko look away.
“You’re right, but I'm mad about it,” the dragon heroine huffed.
“I can live with that.”
Viperion took a sharp left and noticed a dozen Reflekta duplicates.
“Juleka?”
“Come with us,” the clones sang.
“I’m going to assume they aren’t her,” Ryuuko said as she got off Viperion’s shoulders.
She punched his arm.
“Ow.”
“Your shoulder was bumpy.”
Ryuuko drew her weapon and dashed past the group of Reflekta clones. After a second, she holstered her weapon and all of the clones dropped to the floor groaning.
“Wow.” Viperion was impressed. He had to admit that it was super cool.
“Don’t worry, I used the flat end of the sword. They will be fine, and hopefully they will slow down the akuma.”
The two continued running, but glanced back as Deadzone arrived. He looked at the clones getting up and blasted each one into a green bubble in which they remained motionless and floated to the ceiling of the hall.
“It can’t distinguish between friend or foe,” Viperion commented.
“What?”
Viperion turned to his comrade.
“I think I just got an idea.”
__________________________________________________________________________
“This way,” the bossy blond teen motioned.
Fu pushed his janitor cart as they moved in the hallway.
“Do you really need to move that hideous thing with us?” Chloé questioned with clear aggravation.
“It's very important,” Fu responded.
“Ugh, whatever. Just move faster, then.”
Fu nodded and picked up the pace.
The mayor’s daughter led them down the hall and they had managed to avoid attracting attention.
“Okay, we are here.”
Fu looked at the door and realized that it was the nurse’s office.
“Hopefully the nurse didn’t get herself captured while I was gone.”
Chloé went to open the door and noticed it was locked.
“What the…”
“Let me try.” Fu interjected.
“Fine, just hurry up.”
He pulls out a jingling set of keys. Chloé shrugged as she turned around to keep watch.
Fu let his kwami companion out to open the door. Wayzz quickly undid the lock and opened the door before sliding back out of view.
“All done,” Fu said.
Chloé turned around as Fu opened the door.
The two quickly ran inside and locked the door behind them.
“Nurse Arugula!” Chloé called out. “I have a guest for you!”
“Arugala?”
“It was something with an A.” Chloé commented.
The two waited a few seconds, but there was no response.
They moved deeper into the office.
“Are you here?” Chloé questioned.
They flicked on the light switch to see the nurse in the cot.
“Oh, that’s great, I leave to go get help and be a hero and she goes off napping!” Chloé fumed.
Fu moved to the nurse and noticed she had a bruise on her neck, indicating that she was clearly forced into this state. He jabbed a pressure point and the nurse jolted awake.
“HUAGH!”
She nearly fell out of the cot.
“Glad you can join us from your nap,” Chloé hissed.
“Chloé? Did you call for help?” The nurse inquired as she gathered her bearings.
“No, the school is a total dead zone, and I couldn’t find a way out because they are all blocked by slime. Side note, I found this old guy.”
The nurse turned to the old man.
“Hello. I’m Angela.” She politely introduced herself.
“Nice to meet you. I am… Fung,” Fu lied. He couldn’t be too careful.
“Nice to meet you Fung, despite the circumstances,” she tried to make light of the situation.
“Every meeting can have a positive circumstance if one is looking for it.”
The calm in the air died when Angela realized that someone was missing.
“Oh no! The women you left in my care! She knocked me out and stormed out of here.” Angela exclaimed.
“Welp, she is probably captured,” Chloé shrugged.
“We have to find her, she has some sort of strange illness. Leaving her out there might be dangerous, akuma or not.”
Angela prepared to move to the door but was stopped by Chloé.
“Oh no you don’t! I brought this old man here for safety. You stay here with him.”
“But my patient!”
The woman was clearly shaking, but she was determined, she wanted to help her patient even if it meant going into danger. But much to Fu’s surprise, Chloé stepped up.
“I will bring your patient back. Mostly because being stuck in here seems much worse than dealing with a bunch of dumb akuma.”
Angela hugged Chloé.
“Thank you.”
Chloé tried to look annoyed, but a ghost of a smile appeared on the mayor’s daughter’s face. She accepted the hug for a moment.
Fu took notice. He had made his decision.
“Alright, enough touching! You deal with sick people all day. I don’t want germs,” Chloé stated as she tried to give off her usual air.
“That is very brave of you, young one.” Fu spoke.
“Pff, this is nothing. It’s what heroes do.”
As Chloé began making her way out of the nurse’s office, Fu quietly slipped the tiny miracle box into her bag.
‘I hope this was worth the risk.’
_____________________________________________________________
(END OF CHAPTER)
Well things are really heating up.
Will Ladyice and Icenoir be able to deal with stormy weather? Will Deadzone be the dead end for Ryuuko and Viperion? What is Masquerade's villainous plan? Will I update faster than every 40 or so days?
Let me know your thoughts and if you did enjoy the story.
REBLOG it and comment. Likes are nice but they don't really help content creators like they should.
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byunbaekby · 4 years
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title: haven’t been caught pairing: badboy!haechan x goodgirl!reader word count: 1.7k genres: fluff, established relationship au, high school au, secret relationship warnings: mentions of weed, suggestiveness, one cuss word, not proofread additional: based on the song “good girls” by 5 seconds of summer. also, big thanks to @florence-cvrt​ for all their help <3
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She's good at school, she's never truant She can speak French, I think she's fluent.
“Lee Donghyuck, if you don’t get your hand off my thigh right this instant, I will tell Mr. Qian to fail you.”
You bring a light slap down on his hand, which is threatening to slide up your skirt. Your boyfriend’s hand immediately leaves your leg, innocently tucking it back into his lap. When you turn to him, his pretty lips are spread into a fake virtuous smile and his long hair barely covers his entertained sparkling eyes. Still, he complains, “Wait until I tell the student body that their vice president is actually violent and manipulative.” 
He tsk’s as you show no reaction, instead flipping through the pages of the French textbook. “What would you tell them?” 
Donghyuck leans back in his desk chair where the two of you reside in an empty classroom, adjusting the collar of his leather jacket before running a hand through his hair. “That even though you walk around school smiling at everyone and kissing teachers’ asses, you love hitting your boyfriend and threatening him.”
“You, my boyfriend?” You laugh at him, eyes never leaving the book. “They’d never believe you.”
You’re right, because the school has no idea that you, the It Girl and vice president of the student body council, are dating Lee Donghyuck, the guy who smokes weed behind the school and always skips class for no important reason other than to entertain himself. How you even started dating is another story, but now your relationship is on the infinite downlow.
“You’re right,” he relents, but he’s obviously not given up yet as he leans closer to you. You try not to get swayed by the sudden infiltration of his scent, and continue scanning the pages of the French book. “They won’t. But it wouldn’t be a surprise. I mean, we’d be the hottest couple ever. So, maybe I should put a nice big hickey, right there on your pretty neck. Maybe then they’ll believe you’re not as innocent as you pretend to be,” teases your boyfriend, his voice dipping lower into dangerous territory. 
You roll your eyes. “Sure,” you respond sarcastically.
“If you say so.”
Before you know it, your boyfriend has leaned in to kiss you, lips inches away from yours. When you realize what he’s up to you put a hand up, so his lips meet your palm instead of their intended destination. “No.”
A whine leaves him, a stark juxtaposition from his dark appearance. “Why not?”
“Because it’s not appropriate.”
“Not appropriate?” he questions, crossing his leather covered arms across his chest. “You’re my girlfriend.”
A shake of your head tells him no, along with a teasing smirk upon your lips. “Not right now. Right now, I’m your French tutor. Now pay attention,” you tell him, gaze skimming the textbook page. 
“Fine,” he scoffs, leaning back in his chair. 
“Je suis allé au café et j'ai pris une tasse de café. Translate that for me.”
“That means,” he starts, rolling his neck back to stretch it out, looking less than interested in the lesson. “My boyfriend is so sexy and I wish he would kiss me right now.”
Your eyes narrow, and you shake your head. He speaks up again. “I was kidding, actually it means, Donghyuck, I love when you wear your leather jacket, it makes you look so sexy.” 
You lean forward, capturing your head in your hands in frustration. He just laughs. “Tu es une telle honte, pourquoi je sors avec toi,” you sigh out, exasperated. 
“Oh,” he hums, leaning forward to hold your hands instead. “Maybe that one means, My girlfriend is so beautiful and smart?” You look up at him, raising an eyebrow at his sudden attempt to appeal to you. “Because you are.”
You roll your eyes, a smile spreading over your lips. “Actually I was calling you a disgrace and wondering why I’m even dating you.”
“Not surprised,” he chuckles softly, but immediately closes the French textbook on the desk before the two of you. “Come on, you know I’m not good at this school thing. Mr. Qian already knew that when he asked you to tutor me. How about,” he tilts his head at you, about to put up an offer. “We ditch this tutoring session and go get some ice cream? On me.”
A purse of your lips tells him you’re considering it, and he adds, “If anything, I’m just studying more by being with a beautiful lady who speaks fluent French.” 
You chuckle, leaning forward with pursed lips. “Je t'aime.”
“That one I know,” he smiles as he presses a sweet kiss to your lips. “Love you too. Now let’s go,” he says, standing and pulling you along by the hand. 
'Cause every night she studies hard in her room At least that's what her parents assume But she sneaks out the window to meet with her boyfriend.
Carefully you climb down the side of the house, trying your best not to make any noise against the wall but also trying not to fall to your death. A sigh of relief leaves your lips as both your feet touch the solid ground.
“Going somewhere?”
Immediately you jump, eyes widened as you turn to meet the owner of the voice. “Donghyuck!” You hiss, voice still low. “I thought you were my dad!”
“Well, you can call me daddy too,” your boyfriend says as he approaches you to press a kiss on your cheek. The tip of his light chin stubble brushes on your skin as he does so. 
“Don’t even joke about that,” you roll your eyes, allowing him to slide an arm over your shoulder and walk you down the street to where he parked his car out of view from your house. “So, where are we going?” “A friend’s party. His name is Mark.”
A cautious eyebrow is raised by you. “Will anyone from school be there?”
He shakes his head in response, knowing you can’t be spotted together especially with you under his arm at a college party of course. You’ve got to protect your precious reputation. “Nah, he’s in college. There’s no way he’d let high schoolers in.”
“We’re high schoolers, silly.”
“Well, yeah,” he shrugs before turning and grinning sinfully at you. “But we’re cool.”
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” you tease as he releases you and unlocks his car.
She may be clever but she just acts too square 'Cause in the back of the room where nobody looks She'll be with her boyfriend, she's not reading books.
As you slide up onto your tiptoes, the feeling of your boyfriend pressing against you is much too present and you scoff. “Can you stop being a horndog and get this book for me?”
“Darling,” he chastises, reaching up to grab it easily above you. “That’s what I was doing.”
As he hands the book to you, you roll your eyes. “Sure, like you weren’t trying to rub up on me.” 
“Not at all,” responds Donghyuck, dark eyes glinting with mischief. You leave him behind as you turn into the next aisle, searching carefully for the next book you were looking for. As you get deeper into the library shelves, the light gets further away and the tall shelves begin to cast a shadow upon your hidden figures. “Why do you even wear your uniform, anyways? You know it’s not required by the school.” 
“Yeah,” you respond matter-of-factly. “But as the vice president I should adhere to the suggestions set by the administration. Clearly you don’t care,” you say, glancing over his usual outfit of ripped jeans (which definitely didn’t fit normal dress code anyways) and his trademark leather jacket over a white Adidas shirt. 
“Okay, but your president Huang Renjun is a lame virgin with a stick up his ass and even he doesn’t wear his uniform everyday,” retorts your boyfriend.
“More reason why I should have been president instead,” you respond, scanning over the back of a book sounding not at all petty.
“That’s because at the time, you were more focused on becoming my girlfriend than campaigning, you minx,” Donghyuck teases as you slide the book back into its place, unsatisfied with its synopsis. When you don’t respond, instead turning into yet another aisle, he follows you, fingers tugging slightly at your skirt. “That’s okay, I like the skirt anyways,” he says, his famous smirk over his lips as your mouth gapes and a flustered warmth slides up to your cheeks. “S’cute.”
She said to me, forget what you thought 'Cause good girls are bad girls that haven't been caught
“Oh my god, Y/N,” Donghyuck already starts as he approaches you in the front of the school, already losing his bad boy personality in the fear that you’d be upset at him. “I’m so sorry.”
The two of you had been caught making out in the bleachers by a few members of the football team after school yesterday. Okay, perhaps it wasn’t the most discreet of places but you swore they’d announced over the intercom that football practice was cancelled for the day! Unluckily, it seemed a few players still wanted to get some practice in. 
Surely, rumors flew in less than twenty-four hours. Y/N, with Donghyuck? No way. Impossible.
Yeah, that was what you thought too, until it happened. You fell for him, for all his rough edges and playful teasing. He doesn’t deserve to be hidden. 
The smile you give him must throw him off, because he blinks. He’s probably forgotten his pre-made apology; he knows how important your reputation is to him. In his silence, you speak up.
“I don’t want to hide anymore. Let’s,” you propose as you interlace your hands, surely feeling eyes on you already. “Show them what a hot couple looks like.” 
He blinks, eyes flying to your hands and it’s probably the first time you’ve seen the snarky Donghyuck speechless. He recovers smoothly, smirking and nodding. “Okay. Let’s blow them away.” 
“But if you fail your French test in third period, I will break up with you.”
A boisterous laugh leaves his lips as he kicks open the doors to the school hallway. “Noted.”
Before the two of you enter the hallway to expose your unlikely clandestine romance to everyone, you lean up and whisper in his ear. “Je t'aime.”
“I know what that means,” he smirks as he presses a proud kiss onto your temple, and takes a step inside. 
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bbysamu · 4 years
Text
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Couple Secretly Shares Both Sides of their Love Story
⇢ Featuring: AKAASHI Keiji x you 
⇢ Inspired by: Both Sides series by Jubilee
⇢ Genre: fluff
⇢ Warning: none
⇢ wc: 1,137 
✎  Preview: You and your husband are invited to film a YouTube video about your relationship. The catch? You’ll each be asked different questions about your relationship and answer them while the other is wearing noise cancelling headphones.
✎  Matsukawa ver. 
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Please have a seat.  Anything you guys want to say to each other before we give Akaashi his noise cancelling headphones? 
You: I'm excited! 
Akaashi: same, I don’t really know what to expect though 
You: I mean we just answer questions about each other, didn’t you watch the previous couple’s video that I sent you? It was the middle blocker from Aoba Johsai and his wife. 
Akaashi: Oops, I think I added it to queue but forgot to actually watch it
You: (playfully roll your eyes at your husband) You always do this. Don’t worry babe, just go with the flow. 
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First things first! How did you and Akaashi meet? 
We technically met in high school. Like we’ve seen each other in the hallways and stuff but we didn’t “officially” meet until college. And the only reason we started to talk to each other was because one time I was rushing to class I accidentally bumped into him and spilled my pumpkin spice latte on him. 
Then what happened? 
(you stifle a laughter as you look at your husband sitting across from you, Akaashi looks at you curiously) I quickly apologized but he could tell I wasn’t being sincere. AND the only reason why I didn’t sound sincere, although I was apologetic, was because I was too preoccupied with my pumpkin latte. That was the first time I got it, so I was really excited to try it. You know Starbucks ain’t cheap right? hahahaha 
He was a little mad actually, because he had just gotten that shirt. But my baby is a patient man, plus after he got a good look at my adorable face, he decided to use the chance to ask me out. He asked for my number, using some lame excuse about buying him another shirt. He’ll probably tell you he was genuinely looking for reparation for his shirt. BUT I know it’s because he wanted to ask me out. 
So how did you guys end up dating? 
We ended up shopping for a new shirt for him and he wouldn’t even let me pay, but I did treat us to dinner that night. We went on a few more dates and each date allowed us to really get to know each other better and realize how similar we are. We always joke that if we had gotten to know each other better in high school, we’d definitely be high school sweethearts. 
Does he have any pet peeves that drive you crazy? 
(you glare at your husband, who didn’t even notice because he was looking down at his feet, trying hard to not fall asleep) oh yes, for some reason, this man refuses to turn his phone to vibration at night and his ringtone is “country road”. And you know who likes to call him late at night? His best friend Bokuto. So many nights were spent as I was about to fall asleep, suddenly country road comes blasting out of nowhere. 
What about something about him that you love? 
oh man this one is hard because he’s really lovable. If I had to choose, I’d say his thoughtfulness. We rarely fight because of that. He’s so good at knowing how I feel all the time. It’s like he can read my mind sometimes. 
What is one thing you feel like you don’t tell him enough? 
(you look at Akaashi, who’s studying you, a small smile playing on his lips) Thank you. I feel like I don’t express my gratitude for him enough. I was in a bad place before I met him and he pieced me back together. He’s one of the biggest reason I’m here today doing what I love with the full support of the love of my life. (you turn to him) Thank you darling 
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Akaashi smiles at you as he slips off his headphones and hands them to you. 
So I heard you guys went out on your first date because she spilled coffee on you? 
Well it wasn’t coffee that she spilt on me, it was pumpkin spice latte and I will always remember because I ended up smelling like warm cinnamon the rest of the day PLUS my new shirt got ruined because of her. But you’re right, that incident was responsible for our first date. 
What was your impression of her? 
My first impression was clumsy and rude. This girl comes running out of nowhere, spills some Starbucks on my new shirt and doesn’t even sound genuinely sorry (Akaashi looks at you and laughs). But then I caught a glimpse of her face and I let it go hahahaha 
What was going through your mind when you asked her out? 
Well I asked for her number, using some excuse about buying me a new shirt. I mean, I did really want to get a new shirt, but honestly, I just wanted to hangout with her. 
She did mention how the shirt was only an excuse for you to ask her out
(Akaashi looks at you with an amused smile -- you looked back at him curiously) Yeah, my wife knows me well 
What is your favorite memory together? 
(Akaashi brings one hand up to his head, running through his black hair) Oh man, this is really hard. Would it be too cheesy to say every moment is a favorite memory? (he laughs and ponders for a moment) If I really really really had to choose, I’d say the time she got sick and was a little high off her medicine. 
What happend? 
She was running a high fever and as the medicine brought down her temperature, she started to hallucinate (Akaashi laughs at the memory). It was so funny because she started pretending like we were in New York City, which was the first leg of our honeymoon. She would run around the room, taking pictures of random objects and yell at me saying, “babe look at all these New York things!”. She also stood on the chair and pretended to be the Statue of Liberty. But my favorite part was when she thought we were on top of the Empire State Building and kissed me and told me how much she loved me. (Akaashi smiles at you) I got sick a few days later, but it was worth it 
What is your favorite thing about your relationship? 
She’s my rock, my home. She’s like the eternal ray of sunshine in my life. 
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That wraps up our interview for today! Last but not least, any last words you guys want to say to each other? 
Akaashi: I’ll love you forever...
You: Sid 
Akaashi: what? who is Sid? 
You (laughing at your husband’s confused expression): that’s why I tell you to be on Tiktok more. But I love you too forever and ever
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Taglist: @aonenthusiast, @mango-smoothies, @sukunas-lady, @donutwithinadonut, @akaashiwife, @elianetsantana, @kellyyween, @crapimahuman​, @sakusasonlywife, @rintarouschuupets​
Join My Taglist!
© ceci-chan 2021 all rights reserved. Please do not copy / repost my work on other platforms. 
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harrylilies · 4 years
Text
The Royal Series | Pt. II
The Royal Series Masterlist
a/n: Damn okay rewriting this made me question how you all liked this before at all because that was cringey as fuck.
---
If anyone had told you or Harry that you would be texting each other from your private numbers only a week before you met, the both of you would have laughed straight to their face.
You remember how before you both parted ways that night at the bar, you stood in front of each other by your car, Farrah having been already in the car and Harry’s band having had bid their goodbyes and “we wish to see you again’s”, but Harry lingered by you.
“Thank you for coming to the show and spending time with my lame friends and I.” Harry had said with his hands clasped behind his back and a small smirk on his face as he tipped his head at you.
“Thank you for helping Farrah and I get seats so soon, and for a wonderful show, and amazing fries and conversation.” You had replied with a smirk that mirrored his.
“Will you be attending any more shows of mine?” Almost timidly, Harry had asked.
“Depends, are you going to invite me?”
His smile had widened, eyes seeming to sparkle at the initiated playful banter you replied with, “Would you accept the invitation?”
“As I said, depends if I even receive one.” You had shrugged.
He had known that this was him shooting his shot – a shot at the Princess of the United Kingdom to be more specific and it sounded absolutely mental. “Well, how do I reach you if I ever want to send an invitation?”
You had given him a smile, eyes staring into his, “You can text me, but how do I trust that you don’t leak my number?” You had teased him.
“How do I know that you won’t leak mine?” Harry had joked, tipping his head to the side as he looked at you.
You had given him a shrug with a smile he could only think of adorable and all its synonyms, “You don’t.”
Having had 5 days before his next show and deciding to go back to London, you had planned to meet for coffee at a place you knew that rarely had anyone visiting but coffee turned to staying for lunch, to trying dessert together, and before either of you had known it, you had spent the entire day together.
The following day, you had FaceTimed as you watched a movie together, Harry slipping halfway through it by saying what you had secretly hoped for and had you giggling and smiling like a young teenager;
“I never thought our second date would be over FaceTime.”
For Harry, it was embarrassing, but you had seen it as hitting a bird with two stones; 1: he considered the day before a date, and 2: he considered that one, too, a date.
But you had assured him when you replied;
“Maybe we can meet tomorrow? So that the third one isn’t virtual?”
And for the third one, you had made dinner together at his house and cried watching The Notebook.
Taking your seat at the table, beside your brother, Har, your grandmother had the family over for breakfast and was later hosting a formal dinner on the same day - two occasions you had to attend but you had informed them that you weren’t going to be able to attend dinner.
"Tiny, is it true you’re not attending dinner?" Your brother, William, asked with the nickname he and Har had created for you ever since you were an infant, as you placed toast on your plate before reaching for jam, Har helping you by giving it to you.
You hummed in confirmation, "I have plans that I can't cancel."
Sighing, William put his fork down and looked at you, "What sort of plans?"
Letting your fork down and intertwining your fingers together, you looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, "Personal ones.”
"Personal pla-"
"Oh, just let her go, will you?" Har chuckled, "It's not going to be the end of the world."
"Don't encourage her, Harry." Your grandmother replied.
"I don't need any encouragement, Granny. I have been attending dinners and formal meetings all my life. I think I deserve to look after myself for a bit, don't you think?"
The table was quiet for a few seconds before Har coughed and shrugged, "I think you're right."
You gave him a thankful smile, watching as he winked at you discreetly.
"I think Y/N knows what she's doing, Will." Kate said softly, glancing at you before looking at your brother who instantly loosened.
"Is he British?" You grandmother asked, making the air hitch in your throat before you eyed Har, who stifled his scoff, knowing that she was indirectly referring to the woman he was with; Meghan.
You only looked at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly opened.
"Well?"
"Is-Is who British?" You cleared your throat.
"The personal reason why you're not attending dinner." She gave you a smile, letting you know that she was keeping up.
"Granny!" You groaned, looking down at your plate, ignoring everyone who sat on the table as they seemed to stifle their laughter at the situation.
"Just remember," Your grandmother began, making you look at her, "You are Y/N, Princess of the United Kingdom, not someone normal. Leave the normal to the normal. If you're seeing Fred, I'll give you my blessing. If not..." She paused before continuing to eat.
Your eyes met Kate’s sympathetic ones before you looked down at your plate, "Of course." You whispered.
You were in a hurry to get breakfast done with so you could go on with your own day.
After a formal visit to a hospital, you were glad to go back to your flat at Kensington, finally feeling your muscles relax as you began to get ready to see Harry.
Although you could have your driver drive you to where Harry was, he was persistent to meet you so you could go to wherever he wanted you to go to, together.
Your driver had driven you the short distance from the palace to where Harry was waiting for you, looking around for you to make sure no one but the 3 of you was around.
“All clear.” He smiled as he turned back to look at you.
“Thank you so much,” you smiled back, “Sorry for the hassle.”
“None of that, YN.” The old man waved you off, causing you to grin before getting out of the car and walking towards Harry’s black Range Rover.
His head turned to look at you, a smile instantly making its way to his face as he got out to greet you, wrapping his arms around you in a quick hug before pecking your cheek.
"Sorry I'm late." You said, catching your breath as you looked at him.
"It's okay. Is everything alright?" He asked, his eyes on you as he took you in.
You nodded, smiling slightly. "It is now.”
Getting in the car and buckling up, Harry drove off after waving at your driver.
He glanced at you before looking back at the road, a dumbfounded smile on his face, “You look beautiful.”
You tried to stifle the wide grin, looking at the window beside you, “Thank you. You look lovely, too.”
“Did I just make her Royal Highness blush?” Harry gasped dramatically.
“Shut it, Styles!” You laughed, feeling all the stress and worry that you had carried with you throughout the day fade, “Also, I’m on AUX duty.”
Arriving at the place where Harry promised to be peaceful, you were helped out of the car by him. Gently holding each other's hands, both aware of the zoo in your stomachs, you walked inside the small restaurant.
"Oh, Harry, you're here!" An old lady exclaimed with an excited grin before her eyes moved to you, her grey eyes going wide. "Is this- Oh my, are you Princess Y/N?"
Biting your lip and afraid she'd give you any special treatment, you reluctantly nodded.
"Your Highness," She gave you a curtesy. "The place is a bit messy. It's not always like tha-"
"No, no!" You quickly interrupted her, "I love it. And please call me Y/N."
"Are you sure? I mean you're..." She trailed off, glancing at Harry who gave her a reassuring nod.
"I am." You smiled softly at her.
“Oh, dear,” she brought a hand to her heart as her face softened, “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Y/N.”
“All mine,...”
“Trisha.”
You smiled, “Pleasure is all mine, Trisha.”
Smiling at the encounter, Harry’s hand was then on your back as he looked at Trisha, "The regular booth." He informed her, beginning to walk towards the end of the restaurant with you.
You sat down, watching as he sat in front of you. "Do you come here often?"
He nodded, "Trisha here," He pointed back with his thumb, "Has seen me at possibly every state. I got lost once and I came here to use their phone and I've been coming here ever since, that was maybe 3 years ago."
"She seems lovely." You smiled.
"She is." Harry agreed before looking at Trisha who came to your table and put two menus in front of you and him.
"I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order."
You smiled at her before opening the menu and skimming through it, “What do you usually get?”
“The s-”
The sound of the door bells chiming grabbed both of your attention, the both of you looking towards it. In came a group of maybe 7 young adults, all laughing and filling the once quiet place.
You noticed it; one guy elbowing his friend and pointing at you with wide eyes and before you knew it, the group of friends were looking at you and Harry with not so discreet whispers.
"Hey," Your head snapped to Harry once you heard him. He leaned forward to talk quietly, eyes showing care, "We can leave if you want."
You slightly smiled and shook your head, "I still want to know your usual plate."
Reaching underneath the table, Harry held his palm open towards you. You glanced from his hand to his face, smiling as you placed your hand in his, feeling Harry give it a squeeze.
The truth was, Harry knew the risk he was taking. He knew that you were way out of his league; hell, if someone told him years ago that he would be on a date with someone from the Royal family, he would've laughed in their face.
Yet, something about you was so soothing. It was almost as if you had a part that needed to explored, a part that you kept to yourself – a part that was just like anyone else; normal. He didn't know what it felt like to be a part of a royal family or even know much about the formal, royal protocol but one thing he knew for sure was that he never felt this way about someone before.
He had never experienced the normalcy of how it felt with you with anyone else.
Eating Harry's usual meal, salmon pasta, you both were sharing stories that had you giggling and all smiles as if you were the only people in the place.
"And before I know it, I'm dragged in the water."
You laughed, "I can't believe you thought your friend was a shark."
"It's not all the time that people drag you into the water!" Harry said defensively but with a chuckle at the end, watching you as you laughed.
"Sure, because sharks have fingers." You sarcastically nodded.
"That-" Harry pointed at you before slumping in his seat, "That's a good point."
With his hands under his chin, Harry watched you talk about that one time you and your best friends, Emma, Farrah and Nia, decided to up and leave England for two days without giving anyone heads up.
"We went to Italy." You finished, smiling down at your finished plate at the memory before looking at Harry, leaning back in your chair.
"Got an earful when you went back home?"
You chuckled, shrugging, "Nothing I'm not used to."
"So the tabloids are true? You like breaking rules?" Harry smirked, tilting his head slightly.
With butterflies in your stomach and a grin on your face, you replied.
"Only when it's worth it."
After sharing dessert, Harry asked for the check.
Holding the paper, Harry took out his wallet as you were taking out yours, “How much is it?” You asked.
He gave you a funny look, “You think I’m letting you pay?”
“Come on, we can’t go through this every time.” You chuckled, trying to snatch the paper from him only to have him pull away.
“Not to sound too proud but you know I’m capable of paying for the both of us for whatever, right?”
“I also know that you don’t have to.” You added.
“But do you know that I want to?” He asked, taking money out discreetly.
You rolled your eyes jokingly at him, “Of course you’d use that line,” you chuckled as he shrugged at you with a cheeky smile, “Fine, I’m leaving the tips though.”
He knew that it was a dead-end so he nodded.
You gave him the money so he could add it with his, “How about we do that from now on? Switch paying and tips with each other,” you suggested, “Next time, I’ll pay and you handle the tips.”
Harry held his hand out, grinning when you shook it, “Deal.”
It felt like the night was getting younger by the second from how neither of you wanted to leave the other and it was why you decided to take a short walk together around the place since it didn’t have any people around it.
It seemed like a rom-com; you walked alongside each other, pinkies softly intertwined as you chattered.
“Uni was probably the nicest period in my life,” you told him, “Nobody seemed to give a shit who I was except for the first week or two but that was just it. We were just a bunch of kids trying to graduate.”
“What did you study?” Harry asked with a smile as the both of you walked slowly.
“Psychology and management.”
“Doubled?”
You hummed, “Was really interesting studying them, but then you have people with you who just get too into it, especially psychology, and,” you laughed, “We would go out of an intense lecture and someone would come up to you and just,” you stopped as you shook with laughed as you stepped in front of Harry, putting your hands on his arms, Harry grinning in amusement, “Harry, the reason why you don’t like ketchup on your salad is because you weren’t hugged enough as a child.”
He burst out laughing, throwing his head back. You laughed along, eyes twinkling at the sight of the man in front of you.
Breathing out with a hand to his heart, Harry looked down at you as the both of you continued to chuckle.
Maybe it was the setting of it all; a normal date with a conversation that flowed as gracefully as a river, the weather being almost perfect, you and Harry grew quiet as you stared at one another, oblivious to the rapidly thumping hearts hidden in your chests.
Gently and ever-so-softly, Harry leaned closer first, moving one soft hand to your right cheek. The coldness of his rings and the air wasn’t what caused you to take a breath in, it was the intense yet soft look he was giving you before the both of you closed your eyes, lips finally pressing against each other in a gentle kiss.
Quietly and gently, you both pulled away, still maintaining the close proximity. Harry was first to open his eyes, a smile drawn to his face as he watched you open yours.
“Only took us four dates to kiss.” You said quietly with a smile.
“Sorry.” In his deep voice, Harry replied as he still cupped your cheek.
“It’s alright,” you reached to place your hand on top of his on your cheek, “You can make up for it.”
And so, you were both beaming as you jogged to Harry’s car, Harry’s lips getting placed on your own as soon as you were hidden in the car.
It was a hot mess with how much you were both laughing, though not knowing why but judging from the way the night went – it was just happiness and excitement, two nouns you had missed using.
Driving you back was fun though it was bittersweet; the both of you sang along to the music you played, Harry feeling comfortable enough to hold your hand as he drove.
“Will you call me?” You asked quietly and bashfully, unbuckling your seatbelt and looking at him.
Harry’s heart fluttered, leaning closer to kiss your lips. “Only if you’ll answer.”
“I’ll consider it.” You teased, pulling him in for another kiss before getting out of the car.
What you hadn’t expected to find was your personal assistant and friend, Emilie, standing outside your flat door the moment it came into sight.
“The Queen wants to see you right now.”
Your smile fell as you looked at the sympathetic look she was giving you.
The 10-minute drive to Buckingham was quiet, thoughts racing through your head like colliding trains.
The walk inside and to where your grandmother was waiting for you was stressful, but you reached her.
Sitting on a chair, your short grandmother had an iPad on her lap, zooming in and out on it.
“You wanted to see me, Granny?”
She looked up, “Ah! Yes,” she nodded before handing you the iPad, “What is this?”
Taking the iPad, your eyes moved from her figure to the screen, your breath hitching in your throat at the picture of you and Harry smiling at each other stared back at you. From the little preview of photos at the bottom, you swiped to see the other familiar pictures.
A picture of you laughing and Harry talking with a smile on his face, a picture of your hand on top of his as you talked, a picture of the both of you leaving with Harry’s hand on your back.
You stayed quiet for a moment before letting a sigh, your shoulders slumping down, “This is why I’m here?”
“Are you shocked?”
“Kind of surprised, yes,” you nodded, “How is me going out with someone bad enough for you to request to see me now?”
“That someone happens to be a singer,” she frowned, feeling as if spitting out his profession, “A singer who comes from a boyband, dresses in a way that no man should, and might I add, sings for a living.”
Your eyes widened, “No man should? Why? How should a man dress, Granny? Suits for jammies and morning coats for a stroll?”
“He’s a singer, Y/N. You’re a Princess!”
“And a human, too, just like him and just like you,” you chuckled in disbelief, “And he’s bloody talented at what he does and it’s impacting so many people all around the world.”
“How long have you been seeing him?”
“Long enough to actually like him.” You replied instantly.
The Queen closed her eyes momentarily before standing up, “Are you aware of how you were born to marry a royal?”
You shook your head, feeling your eyes grow tearful, “Are you aware of how much I miss running to you when I fall down or feel sad like I used to as a child?”
“You know whose fault that is, young lady? Yours,” she pointed, “The moment you decided that you were unsatisfied with your duty as a Royal Princess.”
“No,” you shook your head with a slight dry laugh, “It was when you decided that me having an opinion was too much of a privilege, Granny, especially when it comes to who I see.”
“You’re doing all this for what? For who? Him?”
“You don’t get it,” a tear fell, “It was never for anyone but myself.”
“I care about you, too, and you know that. It’s why it’s best for you to marry Fred, someone who comes from a royal line, not a commoner!”
“A commoner?” You laughed, “What year is this?”
“Don’t speak to me in that tone, Y/N. Especially when the public caught you in the wrong with the Styles boy.”
“Caught me in the wr-What?” with a chuckle, you added, “Because me meeting up and knowing people who don’t walk around with their fancy attires and royal calendar is wrong, right. Where are you going with this, Granny?”
“You shouldn’t be tarnishing the family like that, I will not allow it, Y/N!”
“Then I don’t want anything to do with it!”
And with that, you turned around, hurrying out of the room as you harshly wiped your cheeks, furiously taking out your phone and dialling the one person you wanted to see.
“Hey, love. Didn’t know you were that eager to hear my voice.”
It was your sniffle that had alerted Harry, sitting straighter as he pressed the phone against his ear, his smile and joking demeanour dropping, “Y/N? Love? Are you okay? What is it?”
“Harry, are you at your house?”
“Yeah, love, I am. You want me to come and get you?” He asked urgently.
“No,” you sniffled, “I’ll be there.”
Getting the car, you wiped your cheek again as you looked at your driver who frowned at you crying, “Can you please take me to Harry’s, Barney?”
“Anywhere you want, Y/n.”
---
You rang the doorbell, waiting impatiently on the doorstep before you fidgeted with your hands as you waited.
Only a few seconds later did you snap your head up as the door was – aggressively – opened, viewing Harry who looked like he was waiting for the delivery of his child. He instantly pulled you to his chest, resting his chin on your head. "I was worried sick."
"You told me you're not scared." You whispered after a few seconds of silence in each other's embrace.
Harry pulled back a little, looking down at you, his eyes skimming over every part of your face.
A smile made its way on his face as he leaned in, his lips grazing yours ever so softly. "I'm not scared. Are you?”
Closing your eyes, your hands found their way to the hair at the nape of his neck. "I'm not scared."
Harry closed the space between you, pressing his lips to yours in an assuring kiss. Almost as if it was a seal to a deal.
438 notes · View notes
timelesslords · 3 years
Text
baby, just say yes
Read on Ao3
Summary: 
“Okay, then. Marry me.”
Annabeth waited a beat before rolling over to stare at him. His face was dead serious, but Annabeth still thought he might be messing with her.
“What?” she asked. It seemed the safest thing to say.
“Marry me.” he said, again, simply.
Annabeth never appreciated New Rome as much as she did on Sunday mornings.
They didn’t have class, homework could wait until later, there was no chance of a monster attack, and, best of all, Annabeth didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to slip out of the Poseidon cabin before anyone noticed she had spent the night. She and Percy could just lounge around together and be lazy for half the day, before one of them finally got up and made breakfast.
It was starting to get a little late, but Annabeth couldn’t bring herself to get out of bed. It was comfortable and Percy was there. Plus, they were deep into a discussion about the architecture of the city, which only made Annabeth happier and more unwilling to move.
There was one temple in particular that Annabeth had only seen photos of, but it looked incredible. It was Juno’s, which was unfortunate, because Annabeth would really love to sketch the ceilings for her design class. 
“We should go see it,” Percy said, “It sounds amazing.”
“I wish,” Annabeth sighed, “But Juno loves to torture me. Nobody can go in unless they’re married.” 
“Okay, then. Marry me.” 
Annabeth waited a beat before rolling over to stare at him. His face was dead serious, but Annabeth still thought he might be messing with her.
“What?” she asked. It seemed the safest thing to say.
“Marry me.” he said, again, simply. 
“Are you being serious?” 
“Why wouldn’t I be serious?” 
“Uhh, I don’t know,” Annabeth said sarcastically, starting to count out reasons on her fingers, “We’re barely 21, we’re not even done with college, we’ve barely even  lived  together—” 
“We’ve known each other since we were 12, college is dumb, and we’ve made it two months living together and we’ve barely had any problems, so—” Percy said, folding each of Annabeth’s fingers down with each rebuttal.
“College is not dumb.” Annabeth countered. It was his weakest argument, but unfortunately it was also her lamest reason. 
“Okay, fine, college isn’t dumb,” Percy said, waving his hand dismissively, “but waiting to get married because we’re still in college is dumb. It’s not like we haven’t experienced the real world or whatever, we’ve been doing that since we were kids.” 
“Yeah, but that real world is different than like, being an adult, with a real job and a real apartment and bills and—” 
“How could that be harder than fighting in two wars and literally crawling through hell?” Percy asked, only he was grinning now, because he knew he had her. She hit him with a pillow in retaliation, and he laughed.
“You’re impossible,” she said, trying to sound mad, but it wouldn’t quite come out angry.
“You just don’t like that I’m out-logicing you,” Percy said, a little smug.
“You are not  out-logicing  me,” Annabeth huffed. 
“Okay, give me one good reason why we shouldn’t get married, then,” he said. That dead-serious look was back on his face. Annabeth would have preferred him to be smug. 
“Well, first of all, you don’t have a ring. What kind of lame proposal is that?” Annabeth said, knowing she was just stalling for time. 
“Who says I don’t have a ring?” Percy asked, straight-faced. The look on Annabeth’s face must have been extraordinarily panicked, because he sighed, looking defeated.
“I don’t actually have a ring ‘Beth. You can put off your heart attack.”
“Oh thank gods,” Annabeth sighed, covering her eyes with her hands. That really would have been too much too soon.
“But I can  get  you a ring, so that’s really a non-issue,” Percy continued, undeterred, “Next reason.” 
“Everyone’ll think I’m pregnant,” Annabeth grumbled, hands still over her eyes. That made Percy laugh.
“They’ll just assume that we’re crazy for each other and also madly in love,” Percy said. 
“And also that you knocked me up,” Annabeth added, moving her hands to her forehead and looking over at Percy. 
“In which case it would be my fault, and we would share the embarrassment equally,” Percy said easily, grinning. 
“That’s not even how it works,” Annabeth complained, “It would be way more embarrassing for me. Even though it's not true.” 
“We can print ‘Annabeth is not pregnant’ on the wedding invitations,” Percy said, because it was his turn to make her laugh. 
“Yeah, that’ll shut up the rumors,” Annabeth said, trying to ignore how the thought of wedding invitations made her stomach turn. 
“Okay, I concede that pregnancy rumors are at least half-way a valid reason. But I’m going to need at least one more,” Percy said. 
“At least?” Annabeth protested, “Is my potential humiliation not enough for you?” 
“Mm. Not quite. I’m sharing at least 25% of the embarrassment, so it cancels out a bit.” 
Annabeth wanted to argue that 25% was too high a percent, but he had chosen the number well. It was, to Annabeth’s calculations, fairly accurate. 
“Why can’t we just wait?” Annabeth asked. She hadn’t meant for the words to come out as seriously as they did, but she saw Percy’s expression shift from joking to sincere anyways. 
“If you want to wait, we can wait. Forget I brought it up” 
She knew he meant it, and she was really tempted to take up his offer and forget about it. They had talked about marriage before, in an abstract way, and Annabeth hadn’t exactly been  opposed, but he’d never asked straight up either. She had been clear that she wanted to be with him for the rest of their lives, but they’d never discussed a timeline for when they wanted to do things. 
But it had slipped out so easily, and so sincerely. He really did want this. The least Annabeth could do was talk about it with him.
“But  you  don’t want to wait,” Annabeth said, rolling onto her side to face him more directly. Percy shrugged with one shoulder.
“I love you. I want to be with you forever. Why wait?”
“If you want to be with me forever, why do it at all?” Annabeth asked. Percy frowned, little lines appearing between his eyebrows. 
“What do you mean?” 
Annabeth hesitated, unsure how to put her feelings to words. Marriage had always given her a kind of weird feeling, nervous and a little repulsed. She was sure a psychologist would have a field day digging up why, but she didn’t really care to know. It was only the prospect of doing it with Percy specifically that made it tolerable to her at all.
“I love you,” she started, slowly, “And I want to be with you forever. But why do we have to put this weird stipulation on it? Why can’t we just be with each other?” 
“We could. I’ll be with you however you want to be with me,” Percy said, reaching out, and brushing a stray curl behind her ear. Annabeth tried not to sink too much into his touch. She couldn’t afford to be distracted now.
“But you want to get married,” Annabeth protested. 
“Yeah. I do.” 
“Why?” 
To Annabeth’s relief, he didn’t look at her like it was a weird question. It would have been fair, it was a weird question. But he could tell what she was asking, what she was  really  asking. 
“I dunno, I can’t really explain it,” Percy admitted, “I guess I just want to make that promise to you, that I’ll always love you and always be there for you, sick or healthy and rich or poor, or whatever the words are.” 
Annabeth couldn’t help but laugh a little at the end of his statement, and his own lips turned up in a smile.
“You’ve already promised me all that, though,” Annabeth said. 
“Yeah, but this time it’s official. Something bigger than just you and me,” Percy said. 
And maybe that was it; the wrinkle that wouldn’t let her just dive in and say yes and get married at 21 like every other lovesick young adult. Promises. Because a promise made was just a potential promise broken and the more official it became, whether in a prophecy and a knife or a ceremony in front of all their friends, the worse the fallout would be.
“What’s wrong with just promising it to ourselves?” Annabeth asked. 
“Nothing at all.” 
“But you really want this,” Annabeth sighed. 
“Don’t say you’ll do it just because I want to do it,” Percy said. 
“But you really want it?” Annabeth asked. Percy took a second to answer, biting his lower lip the way he did when he was really nervous. 
“Yeah. I really want it,” he admitted. 
Annabeth studied his face, every earnest line marking his expression, right up to the crinkles in the corners of his sea-green eyes. 
She tried to imagine being married to him,  really  tried. Not just in an abstract sense, but what it would look like, what it would feel like. To her surprise, it didn’t seem that different from what they had now. Maybe even better, in some ways.
They were already so much more than boyfriend and girlfriend, they had been for a long while. Soulmates was a cheesy word, but she did honestly and truly believe Percy was hers. And while the thought of actually  getting  married was a little horrifying still, the thought of  being  married to him was a little exciting. Having people understand, at least a little bit, what they meant to each other made her feel warm inside.
And he wouldn’t break his promises to her. He was the only one who had kept every single one, and a stupid piece of paper at city hall wasn’t going to change that. 
“Okay,” Annabeth sighed, finally. 
“Okay?” he asked, a hopeful smile creeping onto his face. 
“Okay, I’ll marry you, you dumb idiot,” she said, unable to keep a smile off her face either.
Before she could continue, he leaned over and kissed her. She could feel how happy he was through his lips, and it was supremely difficult to break away, but she knew she had to or she would get lost and her stipulations would slip out of her mind, never to be seen again.
“I have demands, though,” Annabeth said, finally pulling back. Percy laughed, loud and earnest.
“I would expect nothing less.” 
“I don’t want a big wedding. Actually, I don’t want a wedding at all,” Annabeth said, trying to suppress the shudder that crept up on her at the thought.
“Easy. We can elope. Next,” Percy said. 
“Really?” Annabeth asked. She had thought that might be a bigger deal to him, but he just shrugged. 
“I want to be married to you, it doesn’t matter to me how we do it.” 
“Even if I say I wanna go to Vegas and get it done with an Elvis impersonator?” Annabeth asked, only half joking. 
“Can we really?” Percy asked, his eyes flashing with excitement.
“Maybe? If we— okay, no, I have more demands, put a pin in the Elvis thing.” 
“I’ve pinned it,” Percy promised. 
“Okay. I don’t want a stupid gaudy ring, it's not practical, and diamonds are unethical anyways,” Annabeth continued. Percy nodded. 
“No diamonds, got it.” 
“I want to keep my last name, or hyphenate or something. And if I do change it I want to wait until we’re done with school.” Annabeth said. She was a little nervous about this one, but it didn’t seem to bother Percy.
“We could both hyphenate,” Percy suggested, “Jackson-Chase has a nice ring to it.” 
“Chase-Jackson sounds better, but we can deal with the details of that later,” Annabeth said, waving her hand. 
“Okay, I’m putting a pin in hyphenation order. Next.”
“I don’t want to send announcements or anything. People can find out when they find out,” Annabeth said. 
“Okay, but we have to at least call my mom and Paul,” Percy said. Honestly it was impressive he had gotten so far without even a small amendment to her asks. “And Piper is going to be really pissed if you keep it a secret from her.” 
“We can call your parents,” Annabeth promised. 
“And Piper?” Percy asked, raising an eyebrow. But the thought of telling her best friend besides Percy was getting less cringe-inducing by the minute. Annabeth actually felt herself getting excited about Piper’s potential reaction. She would absolutely freak out in the best way possible.
“She can be our witness. If you’re cool with that,” Annabeth said. Percy grinned. 
“That sounds great.” 
“Even if I ask her to make it as irreverent as possible?” Annabeth asked. 
“We’re getting married in front of Elvis, I’m not sure how it gets more irreverent than that.” Percy said. 
“We put a pin in Elvis,” Annabeth corrected, “But I’m positive Piper can somehow make it even more irreverent if she puts her mind to it.” 
“Never thought I’d know an Aphrodite kid so willing to ruin a wedding,” Percy said fondly. Then an excited look flashed across his face.
“Plus, she won’t be able to stop herself from talking about it, and then we won’t have to tell anyone.” he added. He sounded so triumphant Annabeth had to laugh. 
“You’re right, that’s perfect. So, when are we doing this?” 
The smile on Percy’s face faltered slightly. 
“Are you sure you want to do this? Because we really really don’t have to.” 
Annabeth hesitated slightly. In truth the idea still scared her a little, even with Percy’s promises that they could do it in the most goofy, non-traditional way possible. But his insistence that he would stand by her with or without getting married was the thing convincing her. If she asked him to drop it now, he would, and he wouldn’t bring it up again, even though it was a big deal to him. 
And really, it wouldn’t be such a big deal to Annabeth as long as they didn’t make it feel so official. Breaking a promise you made in front of an Elvis impersonator felt much less disastrous than breaking a promise you made at city hall. But it didn’t even matter, because Percy would never break that promise anyways, no matter where he made it. 
“I want to be with you. And you want to be with me,” Annabeth said, “It’s a little weird for me, but if you want to do it, I’m down.”
“Okay. Cool,” Percy said, letting himself smile again. It was so radiant it just about chased away every last shred of lingering doubt Annabeth had. Not to mention the few added advantages to being married that had popped into her mind in the last few minutes. 
“Plus, we’ll get a better tax refund,” Annabeth added, and Percy collapsed into laughter. 
“I love you so much, I don’t even care that you’re marrying me for the tax benefits,” Percy said, rolling over and kissing her again. Annabeth let this one last longer, let herself sink into it.
“We’re getting married,” Annabeth said breathlessly, when they finally separated. 
“We’re getting married,” Percy agreed, grinning. 
So, maybe the institution of marriage was weird and a little sexist in origin and reminded Annabeth of old prophecies and old promises. But that was in the past. Percy was the future,  her  future, and wanted to have every single moment possible with him. 
They were going to go to Vegas, and hire a random guy dressed as a 50s rockstar off the street and have Piper make the whole thing as ridiculous as possible. And then they were going to live the rest of their lives together, maybe as the Jackson-Chases, (or if she had her way the Chase-Jacksons), and she would finally have a word to describe Percy besides “boyfriend” which had been woefully inadequate for years.
Plus, her rebate next year was going to be  awesome. 
Annabeth grinned. Maybe marriage wasn’t so bad after all. 
162 notes · View notes
hockeyisit · 3 years
Note
Auston and Amelia, maybe one where all the guys mock Auston because he is alway clingy to and talking of Amelia. Maybe different scenarios one where they are on the road, or in bars or in games, thanks!
A.N. HI!! SO this one was fun to write. I hope it was similar to what you wanted because I got a little carried away while writing this. I also drew a lot of inspiration from the podcast Spittin’ Chiclets Interview Auston Matthews. He talks about how he was annoyed that Morgan Rielly got a girlfriend and I find it really funny. Also sorry the ending was a bit rushed. 
Word Count: 1,914
Master List
“Hi, I’d like a tall bud light and a strawberry lemonade,” I grinned politely at the bartender. He grinned sweetly at me as he nodded his head. I was currently out at the bars with Auston, his teammates, and their wives and girlfriends.
“Sure thing that'll be $10.00,” he said, placing the beer in front of me. I handed him my credit card as I waited for my drink.
“Hey sweet thang,” Auston whispered into my ear as he wrapped one of his arms around me, blocking me into the corner. I grinned as he pressed a kiss to my cheek. He reached around me and grabbed the beer off the counter taking a sip. His face scrunched up for a moment.
“Beer?” he asked. He had originally been drinking vodka lemonades but I was planning to leave soon and he honestly didn't need any more vodka. He took another sip before setting it back down on the bar counter and leaning against me, his head tucked into my neck. He placed a light kiss on my neck before pulling back slightly.
“Are you waiting on a drink?” he asked, leaning his head against mine. I nodded my head and grinned as the bartender walked over with my card and drink. I picked up my strawberry lemonade and grinned at Auston as I took a drink. He reached out grabbing it from me when I was finished.
“No alcohol in this?” he questioned confused.
“Noo I wanted it. It’s so good,” I said, taking another blissful sip. He grinned fondly at me before picking his beer up.
“Your cute,” he said through a hidden grin behind his cup. My cheeks immediately flushed as my eyes darted out to the dance floor spotting Steph and Mitchy. I turned around holding my drink and put my empty hand on Auston's chest. He wrapped his arms around me pulling me in. As I went to respond I was cut off.
“Matts. Amelia!” Willy exclaimed, throwing his arms around the two of us. Auston and I laughed as we leaned into the touch.
“You guys are just so cute,” Willy grinned, swaying us. I laughed as I elbowed Willy away so that we could move farther from the bar. Auston immediately moved back to my side stepping behind me slightly and pulling me back against his chest.
“Auston is always getting his hands on Amelia,” Willy exclaimed, turning to Zach Hyman who had joined us. I laughed loudly as I leaned back into Auston.
“How could he resist this,” I said, moving my hands up and down my body in an exaggerated motion sending a wink WIlly’s way. He laughed loudly.
“Amelia is definitely out of Auston’s league,” Mitch said as he walked to us placing a hand on Auston's shoulder.
“Really Mitchy,” Auston quipped.
“So out of your league Auston,” Steph teased leaning off of MItch's shoulder. I shared a laugh with Auston as I pat his cheek.
“Your perfect babe,” I grinned. He smiled gratefully at me as he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. He pulled away and I blushed bright red as I saw all our friends staring at us.
“I’ve never seen Auston smile so much in my life,” Jack joked as he approached us.
“Amelia makes him smile,” Freddie said, turning to face him. I blushed leaning further into Auston. He tightened his arms that were wrapped around me and pressed his lips to the side of my face.
“They are just a bunch of bullies,” he teased. I tilted my head up with a laugh.
“Oh for sure,” I grinned.
----
“Look at how good this looks,” I said showing Auston my plate of food. He was away on a long road trip through the states and we had been facetiming for the last twenty minutes because he didn't have a game tonight.
“Oh yeah that looks good babe,” Auston said, taking a good look at the camera.
“Thanks, what are you up to tonight?” I questioned taking a seat on the couch and setting my phone on my leg.
“Some of the guys want to go out to the bars and then others want to play video games in the room,” he explained leaning back against his bed frame.
“Oh and what do you think you'll do?” I asked as I started to eat my food.
“Talk to you,” he grinned lazily at the camera. I grinned to myself as I took another bite.
“Oh yeah?” I quipped back.
“Yeah. What are you wearing?” he asked through a lazy grin. I laughed loudly as I held the camera up and showed my body that was in a Leaf's sweatshirt and my lacy blush pink underwear.
“Take a look for yourself,” I teased.
“God I wish I was home,” he groaned. I smiled pushing my plate away from me and stood up to walk to the bedroom.
“Me too,” I said as I crawled onto the bed and spread out.
“I miss you so much. I miss you putting your hands on me,” I moaned out lightly as I put my hands on myself.
“Oh babe I miss touching you,” he breathed out. As I went to respond we were cut off by the door opening and Mitchy walking in.
“Really,” Auston groaned to the ceiling.
“Oops did I interrupt something?” Mitch said smiling smugly at Auston. I laughed loudly as Auston threw his head back against the headboard with another groan.
“Mitch go away,” Auston whined, rolling his eyes. I gave Auston a look as I shook my head. I was not about to have facetime sex with him after being caught like that.
“The guys want to know if you're going out or going to Willys but considering you're talking to Amelia I’m going to guess you're doing neither,” Mitch teased Auston. We were suddenly interrupted by loud banging on the door.
“Auston get off the phone with Amelia and come out to the bars with us,” Willy called loudly through the door.
“You don’t know I’m on the phone with Amelia,” Auston said back offended.
“Dude you literally are on the phone with her,” Mitch exclaimed through a laugh. I grinned as I sat up in the bed.
“Let me guess Auston’s not coming out with us because he’s on the phone with Amelia,” I heard Mo say.
“Mo you can’t say shit remember when you blew me off to hang out with Tess,” Auston responded pettily.
“Whatever. You coming out or you going to stay here and be lame?” Mo responded.
“Stay here and be lame,” Auston responded moodily. I sent him a questioning look to which he sent me a raised eyebrow.
“Okay,” Mo said and then I heard the sound of a lot of shuffling and the door closing.
“They gone?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. He nodded before sitting up slightly in the bed.
“Yeah,” he lazily smiled.
“Is everything okay with you and Mo?” I asked lightly. I knew that the two had been getting into little arguments because Mo had been blowing Auston off lately for his girlfriend.
“Yeah, everything is fine. He and the guys have just been mocking me a lot lately about how much I talk about you,” he mumbled, rubbing his neck.
“Aw, you talk about me? I grinned back.
“Always, You're everything I ever wanted,” he grinned back seriously.
----
“Please come with,” Auston whined as he pulled me closer to him in bed. My name body pressed against his as I grunted.
“I’m not sure this sounds like fun. You said there won’t be any girls there Aus ” I managed to huff out.
“Willy will be there,” Auston tried to bribe. I gave him a serious look.
“Alright fine. I don’t want to leave you alone yet I’m not ready to.” My face softened as I took in Auston's suffering. I moved squeezed myself closer to him
“Babe, what’s wrong?” I asked softly. His body tensed slightly for a moment before he relaxed slowly.
“I just really missed you and being away while you're pregnant is just so hard,” he admitted gently. I rubbed my belly as he talked.
“Alright. I’ll DD,” I agreed as I pulled myself out of his arms.
“Really?” He asked with a grin hopping out of bed. I took in his beautiful naked body as I nodded my head with a smile on my face.
“Yeah,” I bit my lip. He grinned before leaning forward and pressing a big kiss to my lips. He then pulled away and made his way to the closet and quickly got changed. Once we were both ready we hopped in the car and I drove us down to the bar.
“I thought it was boy's night,” Zach teased when he saw the two of us walk in together. I held my hands up in defense as I looked between all of them.
“I’m DDing tonight,” I said innocently a few of the guys cheered and held up their glasses to that one. Mo gave Auston a look before returning his stare to his beer bottle. Auston rolled his eyes before looking back to me. I felt confusion start to brew as I took in the two friends arguing over what seemed like nothing.
“Good now I don't have to force Steph to come get me,” Mitch said, pulling me into a side hug. I giggled before turning back to Auston who was having what looked like an intense conversion with Mo.
“Auston do you ever not have Amelia at your side,” Spezza joked as he arrived at the table. A lot of the guys laughed as Auston looked away from Mo and made his way over to me.
“Don’t worry about it guys,” he responded, pulling me into his side. I grinned as I leaned into him.
-----
“Dude you're always simping over Amelia and canceling our plans,” Mo said leaning back against the couch. Auston paused the game as he turned to face Mo. I stood in the hall peeking around the corner as I took in the conversion before me.
“Mo you started it first when you got with Tess. You didn’t even tell me you were dating her at the beginning. At least I told you,” Auston said running his hand through his hair. Mo shook his head not liking that answer.
“You guys are always talking. It almost seems unhealthy. Like your way more into her than she is into you and I’m just trying to look out for you man,” Mo said leaning forward slightly.
“Listen man. Amelia is the love of my life. Our relationship is not unhealthy. We lost a baby and we wanted to have a family so bad. The fact that she is pregnant right now is a miracle. I worry when I leave her alone, I worry when I’m away. I can’t help her through half of this pregnancy because of my job so yeah I’m going to skip hanging out with the boys so I can watch my baby grow. Yeah, I’m going to skip out on hanging with the boys so I can spend time with my lovely sexy wife. Don’t ever talk disrespectfully about her. I would never do that to Tess man,” Auston said before leaning forward and pressing play on the game. Deciding I had heard enough I turned around and made my way back to the bedroom.
118 notes · View notes
btsqualityy · 4 years
Text
Heaven Sent; Part 4
Jin x Reader
Genre: Angst, hurt/comfort, fluff
Warnings: None to note.
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Months three and four were the months when you finally began to feel that sense of normalcy returning to your life again. The adjustment of going back to work was seamless and surprisingly, a large part of that had to do with Jin.
Ever since that first day when Jin babysat Aera for you, he had been watching her almost every day that you had to work since then. You still didn’t understand how he was doing it, watching Aera for you and also getting his own work done but whenever you asked him about it, he just shrugged you off and assured you that it was no problem. 
Admittedly, you never thought you’d find yourself depending on Jin once your husband passed away but when you really thought about it, you were extremely grateful for it. Jin was someone that you knew and trusted with Aera, but he wasn’t close enough to you personally to where you’d feel like a burden when asking him for help; which is exactly how you felt anytime that you asked your parents or Hae-il’s parents for help.  It also helped that Aera loved being around him, and you were determined to make sure that she could hold onto any bit of happiness that she could.
“Y/N-ah?” You heard your voice called and you broke out of your thoughts, looking up to see Yoongi and Taehyung standing in the doorway of your office.
“Yeah?”
“Are you gonna stay here all night?” Taehyung wondered and you shrugged sheepishly.
“I’m trying to find some specific furniture that I had in mind for that house we’re decorating,” you explained. “It’s not going so well though.”
“Then maybe you should head home kiddo,” Yoongi suggested. “Isn’t Jin watching Aera today?”
“He is,” you nodded.
“She really loves him huh?” Taehyung smiled softly. “I’m almost starting to feel jealous.”
“You know no one could ever replace her Tae Tae,” you chuckled. “But you’re right, I should probably stop for the day and try to come back to this tomorrow.”
“Very true, but you should also come out with us tonight,” Taehyung smirked and your eyebrows immediately furrowed. 
“Out?”
“Just for some drinks,” Yoongi clarified. “Us two, Taeyeon from development, and Kibum and Minho from budgeting are the only ones going.”
“It’ll be really fun though,” Taehyung interjected. “We’re gonna drink beer and eat chicken and sing karaoke!”
“As tempting as that sounds,” you giggled. “I’ll have to pass guys.”
“You sure?” Yoongi double checked. 
“Yeah. Like you said, Jin has Aera and it is late so I should go get her,” you said. 
“Alright, but we’ll miss you,” Taehyung pouted.
“Have fun for me guys,” you laughed, waving to them and watching them do the same before they stepped away from your office and walked down the hall to the elevator. Once they were out of your sight, you saved the tabs that you had been looking at on your desktop before shutting the computer down and standing up. You quickly grabbed your jacket and bag, making sure that everything was in its place before turning off the lights to your office and stepping out into the hallway.
...............................
“Hey, come in,” Jin smiled as he held open the front door to his house, giving you room to step inside. 
“How was she today?” You wondered and Jin waved his hand dismissively. 
“She was perfect, as always,” he told you. “She fell asleep waiting for you though.”
“Oh, did she?” You murmured, your heart instantly inking at the thought of you daughter fighting her tiredness in order to wait for you.
“Hey, don’t worry,” Jin assured you, recognizing the look of worry on your face. “I told her that you were probably just working late and that you’d be here to get her soon.”
“And she was ok after that?”
“She was,” he nodded. 
“Ok, good,” you exhaled sharply, feeling somewhat better. 
“Have you eaten yet?” Jin asked suddenly and you shook your head slowly. “Well, I have some leftovers from earlier. Do you want some?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to trouble you,” you tried to say but Jin cut you off.
“It’s no problem at all,” he insisted. “I always cook too much anyways so I’d be happy to get rid of it.”
“Well, ok,” you relented with a nod of your head, and Jin grinned widely before turning around and leading you into the kitchen. Taking a seat at the counter, you watched silently as he moved to the fridge, taking some containers out before shutting the door and moving over to the counter space that sat next to the stove. 
“So, how’s work been going?” Jin wondered as he began to plate the dak galbi for you. 
“It’s ok, good to be back,” you told him and he nodded absently mindedly.
“You work in interior designing right?” He questioned, popping the plate into the microwave to warm the chicken before turning to look at you.
“Yeah,” you smiled gently. “I’ve been working at the same firm since right before Hae-il and I got engaged, so a little over seven years now.”
“That’s the same amount of time that I’ve been in the restaurant business,” Jin mentioned, turning around to open the microwave once it went off and taking the plate out. 
“You took over for your father right?” You wondered, watching as he walked around the counter, setting the plate and a fork down in front of you before sitting down in the chair that sat next to yours. Wasting no time after smelling how good the dak galbi was, you picked up the fork and dug right in. 
“Yeah, my father was getting older and my brother already has his own business so I decided to take over,” Jin replied. 
“A brother?” 
“My hyung, he’s older than me,” Jin chuckled. “What about you? Do you have any siblings?”
“No, I’m an only child and I’m still not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing,” you joked, making Jin laugh.
“It’s a good thing,” Jin assured you. “Trust me.”
“Everyone that I knew growing up had siblings though, even my cousins so I was kind of relived when I met Hae,” you smiled softly at the memory. 
“Funny story, but that’s actually how he and I became such close friends,” Jin said and your eyebrows rose.
“Really? How?”
“When we met, we hit it off right away,” Jin began. “As we got closer, he would always say, “I never had a brother but if I did, I’d want him to be like you” and that kind of sealed the deal for us and we were close ever since.”
“He always told me that he viewed you as a bother, but he never told me about that,” you admitted. “He hated being an only child and he always said that he didn’t want that for Aera...” you trailed off, unexpected tears welling up in your eyes and streaming down your cheeks as you realized that Aera would never have the siblings that you and Hae-il had wanted so desperately for her.
“Oh Y/N,” Jin whispered, setting one of his hands on your back and rubbing it gently as you cried into your hands that were now covering your face.
“I’m sorry,” you apologized, and Jin shook his head at you.
“No no, it’s ok,” he told you softly. “Do you...have these moments alot?”
“What? Moments when it really hits me all over again that my husband and the father of my daughter is dead?” You questioned, making Jin grimace.
“Well, yeah,” he shrugged lamely. 
“Yeah, I do,” you admitted after a few seconds of silence, sniffling loudly afterwards as you wiped your face free of the tear streaks. “I’ll be doing something random, something normal and then suddenly I’m in tears because I’ll think of Hae.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that though,” Jin tried to say but you let out a laugh.
“There is when you’re trying to continue your life and raise your daughter,” you muttered. “You know, I can’t even open the closet in our bedroom anymore because his clothes are still in there. I’ve been living out of fucking laundry baskets.”
“He wouldn’t want this for you, you know that right Y/N?” Jin murmured. “He loved you so much.”
“And that just makes all of this even harder to deal with,” you confessed. “How do you move on in life without the person who felt like they had been right alongside you the entire time?”
“That’s a question that I’m still trying to answer myself,” Jin admitted and you looked over at him questioningly. “Do you remember that day about two weeks ago when I was supposed to watch Aera and I had to cancel?”
“Yeah, you said it was work related,” you shrugged.
“Well, it was but I actually canceled because I was too upset to be around Aera,” Jin began. “In the past, whenever I had difficulties with work, I always called Hae and asked him for his opinions because he had a great business mind and he always knew what to do. Well, when I found out about an issue that day, my first move was to call him and it wasn’t until I picked up the phone that I remembered that I couldn’t anymore.”
“Jin,” you sighed, reaching over and grabbing his free hand in yours, squeezing it gently.
“So I understand where you’re coming from about loosing someone who’s always been there, because I did too,” Jin muttered.
“The relationship was just different,” you finished for him and he nodded slowly. 
“Can I be honest?” Jin requested suddenly and you nodded your confirmation. “I think that’s why I’m so eager to help out with Aera. Not besides the fact that I really do want to but because even at only 5 years old, she’s so much like him and admittedly, it helps.”
“It does,” you smiled at the mention of your daughter. “She’s sweet and caring and so intuitive and too damn curious for her own good.”
“Just like Hae,” Jin laughed
“Just like Hae,” you agreed. 
“You know, I’ll always be here for you and Aea,” Jin promised you. “I still feel guilty that I moved to Japan and didn’t get to spend a lot of time with Hae before, and I don’t want that to be the case with Aera.”
“I understand. And trust me, you’ve done so much for Aera and I already, I don’t even know how I’m gonna begin to be able to repay,” you sighed.
“You don’t have to repay me. Just letting me be around is good enough,” he smiled and you did the same, feeling immensely comforted to have someone who really seemed to understand the gravity of the loss that you were feeling. You had never known it until now but Jin was hurting just as much as you were, just in a slightly different way, but you didn’t feel so alone now and that meant the world to you in that moment. 
174 notes · View notes
chaislatt · 3 years
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WAYV AS HOGWARTS STUDENTS
QIAN KUN
ravenclaw , head boy, muggleborn
excels in every class he takes
when he first discovered he was magic, he flipped out
he had a matilda episode in his room one night
he was staring intently at his toy planes, wondering how it would be like to fly one someday
then suddenly it just?? levitated??
as an eight year old, he did the only thing he could do in such situations—scream bloody murder
first year : in his newly pressed robes and neatly gelled hair, sat at an empty compartment and started reading his textbooks
until the compartment door opened and a cat just walked over him
“oh sorry, leon doesn’t behave very well” says ten who he did not think would stick around but guess what? his cats liked him
being sorted into ravenclaw, he quickly became famous for being the smartest and wittiest most sensible? wizard of his year
he was especially great at charms got so surprised that there was an incantation to make things float, since all he has been doing is just think it (flitwick got a shock at his first year doing wandless magic)
as he grew older, almost everyone depended on him for help in everything
he couldn’t go a day walking in the corridors without someone asking to meet up at the library or thanking him because they aced their tests
but of course, this little ravenclaw had a limit
he didn’t mean to, but one day he just snapped at a poor gryffindor who kept bugging him to meet at the courtyard to practice spells (everyone finally left him alone, too scared to face the wrath of a wizard who knows all the spells for duelling)
OWLS year—the most memorable year for him, as he and ten spent nights in the library (and sometimes in the kitchen but if anyone asks only ten was in there) studying their bums off
that summer, ten just received a holler from him (surprise! he got all o’s)
naturally, he had been picked for prefect and head boy
the first years LOVED him
he taught them all the secrets to their tower and even handed them a parchment full of riddle answers, because let’s be real, even though you’re a ravenclaw doesn’t necessarily mean you want to use your head all the time
eats at the hufflepuff table because they have better breakfast items
adopted a whole assortment of kids with ten (winwin kinda just sticked around because yangyang was his buddy)
would be the boys’ go to— from pesky spells, ink blotts on their robes, th right grams for mandrake powder, they all depended on him for it
hendery was once asked why he wasn’t scared of him (knowing what happened before)
“he’s not dumb enough to duel someone because they’re bugging him. that’s why he’s in ravenclaw”
overall 9/10. minus one point because he still feels the need to get the last remark in everything.
LI YONGQIN
hufflepuff, pureblood
loves hanging out at the common room
doesn't really care much for grades, but does his best when studying
his housemates call him a sloth
moves so slow, especially in the mornings
likes taking walks along the corridors because it's fun to see other students rush and run to their classes while he walks a leisurely pace
always has his tie loosened
sometimes, he doesn't even tie it, he just wraps it around his collar and hope no one notices everyone does
has a talent for transfiguration
will turn anything into cat snacks
he once turned his homework in kibble and his excuse was "my cat ate it"
befriends all the cats in hogwarts
sometimes he lays down at the courtyard and they all just gather around him
one legendary moment (as lucas likes to call it) was when he was walking down the corrider and a train of cats just followed behind him in a single file
sweet wizard boy, befriends humans as well
he's so likeable, everyone just feels drawn to him
has this laidback energy that feels like a breath of fresh air when things get hectic in the castle
speaking of fresh air
he likes to stroll around outside, most of the time dragging yangyang and winwin out with him
"winwin could use the fresh air and your voice doesn't echo" - ten to yangyang
his sister is friends with yangyang's sister, so growing up he kind of babysat the three whenever their families would be together
he didn't imagine that it would continue during school, but poor winwin looked like he just wanted to get his head bitten off
despite having a lot of friends, he sticks with kun most of the time because he's not as chatty when he's focused (and kun is focused all the time so)
his favourite thing to do anywhere is lay down on his back and play with his wand, sending wisps of magic swirling around in the air, creating beautiful artwork
received pencils and a notebook from kun so he could just draw because "your magic might hit someone and i do not want to be involved with any of that"
doodles all the time
he likes to draw butterflies and magic them off of the paper and makes them follow his friends around
doesn't really say much when no one's talking to him, but will keep the conversation going casually
wanted to become a prefect so he could have his own bathroom
would patrol around at night with his cats (hendery jokes how he looks like filch and now he takes his filch impersonation seriously)
when catching students, he makes obvious remarks like "oh wow good to know that there aren't any gryffindors in this corridor! it would be an awful hassle to report them. good thing everyone's in their chambers!"
very lenient on students he doesn't know, but will threaten those he does and ask for something in return
accidentally gave yangyang the idea of becoming a prefect so he needn't have to worry at night
also accidentally gives yangyang dare ideas to give to hendery
he doesn't mean it! most of the time
overall 10/10. everything is cancelled out by the fact that he goes around the castle with atleast 2 cats following him around.
DONG SICHENG
slytherin, pureblood
mr frowns-a-lot, mr don’t-talk-to-me, mr i-want-to-go-back-to-my-dorm
the most stereotyped slytherin
first years believe that slytherins are scary because of him (but they immediately get debunked by hendery “you’re scared of a tall dude who gets tired from talking and likes to eat chocolate? yeah okay”)
but yes this not so little bean finds talking draining
it’s not that he doesn’t want to, but why would he have to talk about his day when as far as he knows, everyone just did the same thing he did??
you can barely get a sentence out of him
will reply with nods or shrugs and just point or look at things
only talks during class when the professors ask him questions
yangyang bugs him the most
when he got assigned to take care of this chatty, full of energy first year he almost cried
ended up just following him around and yanking the back of his robes to stop him from getting into trouble
because of this, yangyang’s friend are his friends
first got introduced to xiaojun, lucas, and hendery
ended up becoming a babysitter for four
when he met ten, he almost cried again, but now out of happiness  because he got yangyang to shut up
met kun last, and immediately took a liking to him for no reason at all
no one knows how, but suddenly mr-i-dont-want-to-do-anything started getting more mischievous and talkative
the whole hall got surprised when he laughed at lucas’ lame joke
this may be an exaggeration but the boy doesn’t even smile
after this incident, lucas just kept talking to him and he just kept replying, and pretty soon the four little troublemakers would joke around with him and he’d just sit back with kun and ten when he got too tired
this made him attractive
but unlike lucas who got confessed to everyday, there was no one who confessed to him
he didn’t really talk to anyone else and just minded his own business when he was alone, so everyone was too scared to confess to him
which is a huge relief to him because the not so little bean is actually very awkward
proven when hendery accepted yangyang’s dare of going right up in winwin’s face omygod when i tell you his whole face turned red
he avoided hendery for a week until he realized it was too hard since they have most of their classes together??
speaking of classes, it’s a miracle how he just passes everything since no one actually ever sees him studying or doing homework
it’s like everything he does is magic well
overall 7/10. doesn’t really try that much and will only voluntarily hang out with kun.
HUANG XUXI
hufflepuff, halfblood
was tiny, like a little bug
no one knows when he got so tall (summer of second year, he had to buy new robes for third year because they were already too short)
spends breakfast half awake, focusing on eating his meal and listening to yangyang complain about how hard his transfiguration classes yesterday were
he’s never around for dinner because he’s always at the pitch and no one has the energy to talk to yangyang in the mornings so he’s the poor guy
everyone loves him, no one can find a single thing to hate about him even if they tried
loves care for magical creatures with hagrid (he measures his height with the half-giant)
other classes? not so much
sure he tried a little bit, but why would he need to transfigure something into a pen when he could just look for one, and why would he need to concoct a drowsiness potion if he can just will himself to sleep
speaking of sleep, he does that a lot
he likes to wait for xiaojun during fourth period because they had arithmancy next, and he would lean against the corridor and sleep
learned how to sleep hunched over so it looked like he was focusing on class (begs whoever he’s sitting with to wake him up)
why does he do this?
“i’m saving up my energy for later”
he’s a quidditch beast
part of the quidditch team, originally tried out for seeker but they realized he couldn’t go fast enough without loosing his balance on his broom
he switched to being a beater, which the team found out he was very good at aha great power comes with great biceps
everyone falls in love with him when he’s on the pitch
he looks big and scary and ultra focused
and they realized after 3 games that he focuses so much because he aims the bludger to hit the player’s upper thigh only (this prevents player from taking a fall and just bruise, not break a bone)
once he accidentally sent his bludger flying too hard and knocked the chaser off, but he was faster than the seeker and caught them (followed the poor chaser for a week saying sorry and giving them semi burnt cookies he made with xiaojun)
gets confessed to every other day and just says “thanks”
but why don’t you ever reject them? 
why deny that i’m handsome?
that makes no sense
as with rejecting them! 
but truly is an angel
he even got winwin to actually converse with him
he makes everyone feel comfortable, talks to everyone and just hangs around when they don’t want to, offering company
overall 10/10. his cockiness about his looks just makes him endearing since everyone knows he can’t break someone’s heart.
XIAO DEJUN
ravenclaw, halfblood
kun’s reincarnation
but there’s one problem
he’s still immature
you would think he’s the prime example of a ravenclaw
practices his passions all the time
likes doing brain-productive things
reads about anything he finds interesting
goes in and out of their tower because he thinks solving the riddles is fun
but ho ho ho oh oh no
he’s a little devil
makes snarky comebacks under his breath that takes a little bit for you to understand
makes things harder on purpose just for fun and because he’ll be the only one able to do it
has a joke for EVERYTHING and never repeats them so i guess he can get away with that
he’s a little menace to the society but he can get away with it because it’s all just minor inconveniences
but we all know minor inconveniences are the most annoying things
likes to annoy kun the most because he understands and reacts immediately
doesn’t like to annoy the hufflepuffs because they just smile at him in confusion
despite that, he’s also a little sweetheart
remembers everything his friends say, so he’s always there to remind them
reminds kun about a test he has to retake, ten about his changing patrolling schedule, winwin’s meeting with a professor, lucas’ need to polish his broom after dinner, hendery’s homework, and yangyang about that incoming howler from his parents
when he realized he’s such a great asset, he became a bit nosy too
likes to meddle with all of his friends’ business
so if someone wants to find any of the six, he can tell you a vague description where they are
because of course he’s not gonna tell you lucas is by the lake practicing his swinging, he’s gonna tell you he’s brushing up on his quidditch skills so you’d go running to the pitch
this way he’s not technically doing anything wrong to both parties
one day, kun asks why he likes doing this
“it makes me feel like a king maker. feeding things into their tiny brains and knowing exactly what they’ll be doing”
“that’s not exactly what a king maker does”
“yeah but does it look like i want them to be more powerful than me?”
co-parents a dog with lucas
aka lucas asked him to take care of bella while he’s in practice but he forgot to take her back with him for 2 days so now bella thinks she lives in the ravenclaw tower too
does random errands for his friends as a way of apologizing (but really just as a leverage so he can cause more trouble)
his ultimate goal was to brainwash everyone so they couldn’t live without him and he succeeded????
now they’re the receiving end of all the sermons his professors give him (you wouldn’t expect it, but he causes quite a ruckus in class)
but still, at the end of the day, they choose to sit next to him at the ravenclaw table during dinner
overall 7/10. he’s annoying, but he’s good at everything he does and helps his friends out in different ways. which makes him more annoying because why? why not
HUANG GUANHENG
gryffindor, muggleborn
does not understand magic. like at all
the only reason he’s still managing is because he refuses to be beaten by xiaojun
he doesn’t know why he’s in gryffindor but anyone who’s ever met him can vouch for the sorting hat
he’s courageous in the way he faces learning magic (it won’t hurt me, i’m magic) he's brave to speak up to anyone and ask for help when he needs it, and most of all, he has the nerve to get right into winwin’s face
surprisingly good at harder spells than that of his year level, so he’s in a few higher level classes
the reason being he wants to save face when with upperclassmen so he actually focuses real hard and actually understands 
because when he’s with his friends, his mind goes wandering and he can’t focus his magic 
a very strange wizard indeed
imagine getting help from xiaojun to levitate a piece of parchment but can explain to ten how to brew an advanced potion
he’s very confident in his abilities
why would he be nervous to stay after curfew??
if filch catches you
then don’t i just have to avoid him??
but has realistic fears
will not go near a broom
yeah okay the broom can fly, but can he?? he can’t even levitate a piece of parchment, how can he levitate himself?
also very practical
lucas kept struggling since he kept spilling his ink pot so he handed him a pen
“dude i forgot these existed!” “who writes with feathers??”
the most laid back yet extra ordinary wizard ever
you can start a conversation with him and he can keep it going for hours on end
very friendly, will talk to anyone but the downside to this is that he talks to everyone like they’re his friends asdkjshjkd even mcgonagall
overall 7/10. uses magic to solve trivial muggle things and still makes bets with yangyang up to this day.
LIU YANGYANG
slytherin, pureblood
a force to be reckoned with
spend a day with him and your ears will bleed
why?? does?? he?? talk?? so?? much??
his friends always complain but everyone else in the castle can’t see why
in the eyes of a stranger, he’s actually cold and reserved, hard to approach
but if you actually knew him
oh boy you’d want to not
can talk for hours
he and hendery wanted to know just how long he could talk
so they timed it
talked for 9 hours straight, no one knows how they managed
good thing this talking is actually useful
he likes to recite during class, always has a lengthy explanation for his answers
people aren’t the only one he talks to
he talks to the ghosts and to the paintings, greeting them a lovely day or whatever
besides talking, he also has another passion–quidditch
he plays as chaser for his house, often times taking his time to freshen up, so he goes back at about midnight during thursdays
good thing ten patrols during thursdays
speaking of ten, he’s been a brother figure for him all his life
so when he was introduced to winwin, he got so excited because he had another brother
by the end of the night, fourth year winwin knew everything about first year yangyang
he loooves his buddy
tries to do everything with winwin but he doesn’t let him
despite being too much to handle, winwin actually likes him too (but don’t let yangyang know)
likes to do dumb dares with hendery
isn’t really into pranking and getting all up into other’s business, so they manage their mischief between the two of them
and the whole of hogwarts just enjoys and guesses which of the two would be the one running around the great hall in their pajamas
yangyang actually encourages his fellow slytherins to stop sticking among themselves
mostly because he’s tired of them bugging him to “go ask your gryffindor friend if there’s homework on-”
at the end of the day, all his slytherin friends have been adopted by ten, took a liking to kun, and watches lucas, xiaojun and hendery fool around for entertainment
that being said, he loves his friends
thankful that he has classes with at least one of them for all his classes
all his professors have learned to sit him next to them, otherwise he’ll just slack off and stare into oblivion
he’s actually more productive when he has someone to remind him to be
okay maybe sitting him next to hendery wouldn’t result to school productivity
overall 9/10. it would be an 8 but he actually does acknowledge he talks too much.
34 notes · View notes
blouisparadise · 4 years
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Upon request, here is a rec list of bottom Louis fics with everyone’s favorite trope - sharing a bed! We hope you enjoy this list. Happy reading!
1) Just Like Live Wires | Explicit | 5427 words
Harry climbs into Louis' bed when he's cold. Louis pines.
2) Been Gone Way Too Long | Explicit | 8836 words
“This can’t be happening,” Louis says, banging his hand against the window. “This seriously can’t be happening right now.”
Things like this only happen in the movies. Things like this don’t happen in real life. There’s no way that he’s seriously been snowed in. There’s no way that the heating is broken. There’s no way that it’s going to take upwards of twenty-four hours and probably a lot longer for the storm to break and someone to come and rescue them.
“Just sit down, Louis,” Harry sighs from somewhere behind him. He sounds miserable, like he’s already feeling the cold.
Louis whirls around and points a finger at him. “Did you plan this?” he demands a little hysterically. He regrets the question as soon as it’s out of his mouth, but he thinks he’s got a valid point. It’s not like this storm just came out of nowhere - it has to have been on the news for a couple of days, at least. Plenty of time for Harry to have canceled this excursion.
3) I'm Trying Not To Make A Sound | Explicit | 10452 words
Louis thinks he could die right there. He can’t feel anything but the tingling sensation all over his skin. He’s throwing away all his past thoughts on trying to be straight and denying his reactions towards other men, he just wants more of this numbing feeling. Everything else is a long lost memory, can’t think of anything else besides, wow, this feels incredible.
4) Enjoy The Ride | Not Rated | 11103 words
The one where Louis, an omega more than tired of being treated as lesser than alphas, is forced on a road trip by his beta besties only to meet Harry who might just be the alpha he never knew he wanted.
5) Cuffed | Not Rated | 15254 words
What would you do if you were handcuffed to your enemy for 48 hours?
6) Up For It | Explicit | 18223 words
The one where Liam is Mr Organised, Zayn is too perceptive for his own good, Niall is a compulsive matchmaker, and Harry and Louis might just have the surprise to shock them all.
7) Holiday Greetings (And Gay Happy Meetings) | Not Rated | 18417 words | Sequel
Note: This fic has no smut, but it has omega Louis. The sequel has smut.
The one where Niall's dead car and and a foot of snow conspire to force Louis into spending time with an alpha he hates.... or does he?
8) The Aurora Zone | Explicit | 19633 words
The one where Harry is busy crossing off his bucket list while Louis is busy falling for the guy he's supposed to hate.
9) I Wanna Be More Than Friends | Not Rated | 20721 words
The one where Harry’s an alpha with no sense of smell, Louis’ an omega who isn’t allowed to scent his best friend, and that’s all they’ll ever be. Obviously.
10) Etched In Salt (Is A Cathedral Of The World) | Explicit | 24417 words
Note: This fic has BH mentions. It is also locked and can only be read by AO3 users.
Louis asks for very few things in life, and they are: to solve cases, to keep bad people from doing their bad things, to get good coffee, to go home to a spacious apartment with nobody else in it, and to manage his stupid telempathy powers with minimal interference. And now he's stuck in a tiny cabin in a snowstorm in the middle of god-awful-nowhere with Harry Styles. Because of course he is.
11) Like A Siren In The Night | Explicit | 25868 words
“There is an infestation in my home,” Louis hisses, righting himself quickly and pushing his way past Harry, heading directly for the kitchen. He’s rather haphazardly dressed himself, a coat thrown on over a loose flannel shirt and black pants, slippers on his feet.
Harry resists the urge to sigh, closing the door and trailing behind him slowly. “What kind of infestation?”
For all he knows, Louis is going to claim that there’s a ghost infestation. Harry has no idea what the end game is here – all he knows is that Louis has found at least three complaints a week to bring up since he’s been living on Harry’s property, and he’s been living here for six months.
It’s way too many fucking complaints, is what Harry is saying. Especially when most of them are ridiculous to start with.
12) Always Come Back To You | Explicit | 28682 words
“I’ll do it,” Harry offers brightly. No one even blinks. “I’ll do it?”
Louis sighs irritably. “Shut up,” he orders, tossing a pillow in the general direction of Harry’s face. This is a terrible time for jokes, especially Harry’s lame, old people ones.
Not that it was an old people joke. Just that most of the time Harry’s jokes consist of knock-knocks or terrible puns. The type of jokes old people like, Louis’ pretty sure. His nan always finds them hilarious when Harry tells her one.
Harry bats the pillow out of the air without even blinking. “Be reasonable, Lou,” he says in his most reasonable voice.
Louis is perfectly reasonable, thank you very much, and he’s also frustrated and upset and tired and he really wants to punch something. Maybe he should have held on to that pillow a little longer.
“You’re not gonna fucking do it,” he snaps. “That’s the last thing I need.”
13) We’re Not Who We Used To Be | Explicit | 30611 words
“Harry…” Louis’ voice catches in his throat, thick with tears threatening to fall out, so he coughs to clear it before trying again. “Harry is Liam’s best man?” “You didn’t know?” Harry is standing at the entrance of the garage, mouth slightly open and face pulled together. He sets his bag on the ground and puts his hands on his hips. When he does that, he looks just like the Harry that Louis remembers (and loves, he thinks with an aching heart). “I’m sure I mentioned it,” Liam says, but Louis can tell he’s lying by the way he chews on his lower lip and twists his fingers together. “You’re all a bunch of dick heads, I’m getting in the car.” Louis isn’t sure if he’s being unreasonable. He has no idea what the protocol is when your ex-boyfriend shows up after three years and nobody bothered to give you a heads up. He’s pretty sure he’s allowed to be upset about it, even if it’s only for a bit.
14) Blind From This Sweet, Sweet Craving | Explicit | 31170 words
"So, I guess we'll go?" Louis asks later, when Harry has calmed down and eaten his weight in Chinese food. He plays with this chopsticks, spearing another piece of chicken and pops it in his mouth. "I mean, I wouldn't mind. We could make it an adventure."
Harry observes him, watches him seated across from him on their old living room carpet, with a container of food on his lap. He's fidgeting, avoiding meeting Harry's gaze–he probably knows that Harry's mad at him for ruining the one chance they had to get out of this situation. And he's not wrong, Harry is definitely very mad. Harry wants to strangle him and castrate him and smack him upside the head.
But he's also Harry's best friend, and despite everything, despite all the fuck-ups and the plot twists and everything just not playing out the way it should, he'd still rather be stuck in this situation with Louis than any of the other boys. He's got Harry's back, and in a weird, abstract way, he knows they'll be able to get out of this situation, together.
Harry sighs. "We're going," he says resignedly, his shoulders slumping.
Oh well. There are definitely worse ways to spend the weekend than pretending to be engaged to his best friend.
15) Welcome Back From The Friend Zone | Mature | 32584 words
The one where an idea to create a fake wedding with the sole intent to receive gifts from billionaires took a turn no one, but also everyone, saw coming.
16) Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat | Explicit | 34572 words
Harry is 98% sure Louis hates him. So he feels like his bewilderment is justified when the omega offers to help him through his rut.
17) Close To Nowhere | Explicit | 34589 words
Louis and Harry are psychics who kind of hate each other. They go to Tennessee to investigate a haunting.
18) Playing To Win | Explicit | 36732 words
Big Brother UK alumni Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are selected for the UK vs Australia All Stars series with a massive one million dollar prize in the offing. They’re both fit and smart and would make a great alliance... if only they can stop their feelings from getting in the way.
19) If I Stay | Mature | 37226 words
Harry and Louis agree to a temporary arrangement that Harry can't seem to walk away from no matter how many times he tries.
20) The Space Between | Explicit | 39917 words
Harry Styles is the alpha rockstar who can’t sleep and doesn’t know why.
Louis Tomlinson is the omega PhD student who helps him figure it out.
21) Strangers In Love | Explicit | 42207 words
Louis wakes up to find himself in a marriage with the last man he thought he'd ever end up with.
22) Tangled Up In You | Explicit | 45152 words
Harry blinks once. And blinks again. And says, his voice dangerous: “Niall, did you get me a mail-order bride?”
Because what the actual fuck. It kind of looks like Niall’s just purchased a person. For Harry.
Niall blinks back at him for a few moments, before throwing his head back and howling with laughter. Harry throws a pillow at him. Hard. “No, what the fuck, Harry.”
“A prostitute then?” Harry also doesn't want a prostitute.
“Of course not!”
“A stripper?”
“No!”
Damn, he’s running out of ideas. He settles for launching another pillow at Niall’s head. Niall bats it away easily, still laughing. “Stop!”
“What did you get me, then?!” Niall must hear the tinge of hysteria in his voice, because he’s pulling himself together, trying to stop himself from laughing.
There’s still a big grin on his face, though, when he says, “I got you a professional cuddler.”
A professional…what. “What?”
23) No Going Back | Explicit | 56102 words
Sales reps Harry and Louis are bored with their jobs and their lives. After meeting at a conference in Cardiff they hook up, have a few too many drinks, and jokingly apply to become remote lighthouse keepers. Six months, just the two of them, looking after the southernmost lighthouse off the bottom of Australia. It’s not like their applications will be accepted. Right?
This is the story of how one choice - a left instead of a right, a go instead of a stop, a yes instead of a no - can change the future forever and that sometimes, taking that leap of faith, is worth the risk.
24) Waiting For The Tides To Meet | Explicit | 59873 words
Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate's. It's only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he'll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis' workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis' heart.
25) Swallow The Knife | Explicit | 76158 words
“You came,” Louis says, still breathless, clinging to Harry, uncaring that his sweat is getting all over Harry’s presumably clean dad shirt, or that he’s making Harry hold up all of his weight.
“Of course I came,” Harry says. He shifts, one arm curled underneath Louis’ arse, the other spreading wide in the middle of Louis’ back. “If I ignored you every time you pissed me off we would have stopped being friends a long time ago.”
Louis already knows that, of course. It doesn’t do anything to stop the pleased squirm in his belly every time Harry proves it, though. They fight like nobody’s business, both of them too stubborn to pull their punches when they’re arguing, and it used to get them in trouble, but they always make up.
Adrenaline makes Louis loose-lipped, and they both know it. He tightens his arms around Harry’s neck, buries his face in his hair. “I missed you,” he confesses, quiet. “Doesn’t feel the same up there by myself.”
26) Waiting On You | Explicit | 76584 words
“Vampires,” Louis says with disgust, glaring over at the vampire who is noisily slurping from the woman’s neck nearby.
Zayn gives the neat fang marks on Louis’ neck a meaningful look.
“Can’t live with them, can’t live without them,” Louis finishes, ignoring Zayn when he rolls his eyes.
Louis takes a long sip of his milkshake, presses his fingers against the marks on his neck, and definitely doesn’t think about the vampire who left them there.
27) Perfect Storm | Explicit | 80230 words
What do you do when your best friend asks you and your (now) ex to be the best men at his destination wedding? You can either tell him the truth, tell him you’re not together anymore, and deal with the consequences, or you can pretend you’re still together and roll with it, just pray you don’t spiral. Fake it ‘til you make it. You know, for the sake of the wedding.
Harry and Louis choose the latter.
28) Nothing Worsens, Nothing Grows | Mature | 102528 words
Another roadtrip AU featuring Harry as the misunderstood hipster, Louis as the bitter psych major, Liam as the one with the secret boyfriend, and Niall as the one who just wants everyone to be happy.
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league-of-thots · 4 years
Text
Leave Me a Message
Pairing: Hawks x reader
Warnings: angst, swearing, some suggestive themes, um gl with this? im told by my beta it was very sad
Words: 9.4k 
A/N: so um. this happened. First off, if you’d like to go break your heart some more, go check out the MASTERLIST because everyone worked super hard on these and there are some really amazing writers.
Og, this was supposed to be 3k, and then it just kept going and im suffering ok jesus that was so long. it was also kind of a way for me to get out some of my own inner turmoil around some stuff and i fucking loved writing it. ...not to be lame but yes i did cry writing it (shhh) anyways, i hope you enjoy? as much as you can enjoy angst of course.
         Hawks doesn’t do commitment. He’d said that from the start, that he wasn’t out looking for someone to try and grab his heart from out his chest, that he was simply looking for someone to keep his body company. He told you that he was tired of the press making a big deal of him being single, that all you would have to is hang out with him a bit, dates and couple things. He said that he’d been missing some company, that it would be amazing to have someone to spend some of his (very little) time off of patrol with. It was simple to you, who wouldn’t take the opportunity to be on the arm of a successful pro hero? Who would turn down the chance to learn more about the elusive Hawks, the one who’d baffled the media’s attempts to discover anything about him at all?
         You told yourself you weren’t going to make the mistake of getting attached, he was the number two hero after all, he had so much choice. There was no way you were going to be an idiot about it, this was only for some curiosity about the man.
         You enter the bar, a little awestruck at how clean and upscale it was. Of course, it wasn’t too surprising given the fact that this was the number 2 pro hero. He was bound to have some cash to throw around for a good time, plus he’d already told you that he’d be paying for the night.
         How could you refuse him?
         The night started out slow, the two of you lightly discussing regular day to day topics, but it intrigued you how carefully he spoke about everything. You didn’t really know him but you could’ve sworn that he had a plan with everything that he said, that everything he did was carefully calculated. To be honest, it was a little chilling, but as the alcohol started flowing along with the conversation, he relaxed a bit and you had to admit that he was a really fun person to talk to.
         The two of you had gotten closer in the circular booth as the night had gone on, blaming the loud surroundings and dim light so that you could see and hear each other better. He had this dry wit that left you struggling for breath as you laughed at his jokes and his teasing. He seemed to be enjoying himself too, but honestly, you couldn’t really read him at all.
         It was getting into the wee hours in the morning when the conversation took a more serious turn, the conversation starting to be about what this was, and what this would be.
         He was quite direct that he’d make it worth your while
“No offense, love, but if I’m being completely honest, I’m just not good at relationships. They’re not my thing. But I’m lonely and bored, and honestly? You caught my eye.” He’d said this in a low voice to you at the bar, his breath tickling your ear and you flutter your eyelashes up at him.
         “Are you asking me for a night of fun, Mr. Hawks?” you say coyly.
         “Maybe a night, maybe more if I like you.” He leans in to whisper to you, “You’ve got a pretty good chance babe.”
         “You’re not worried about me not liking you?” you weren’t really taken aback; it was to be expected from the number two hero that if you came to meet him, you were interested in him for sure.
         He leans back, with his hands behind him. “If I’m reading your body language right, and I’m pretty good at that y’know, then I’d say you’ve been pretty excited the whole night.”
         You laugh a bit at that. “Well, you’re not wrong I guess.”
         “Then I have nothing to worry about at all.”
           Your arrangement with Hawks started as a few dates in more secluded public areas, the first being a movie which you’d taken a bus to get too. When you’d gotten there, you went inside like he had asked you too. There, you saw him in the furthest corner, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. It wasn’t working well and you had to stifle a giggle as you walked up to him.
         The only reason that people didn’t seem to be coming up to him was the fact that the normally upbeat and friendly hero was closed off, and looking rather downtrodden.
         “Hey, Hawks.” You say, bumping his shoulder with your own playfully. “How’re you doing.”
         “Better now that you’re here,” he smoothly slips his arm into yours, face morphing into a slightly happier expression. “Would you happen to be a fan of popcorn and a drink at the movies, Y/N?”
         “Of course! How can you have one without the other?” He smiles at that, a quick upturn of his lips and its quickly gone again as he guides you to the counter to get some snacks and drinks. It wasn’t supposed to be an incredibly exciting movie, but it was supposed to be decent enough that the two of you could enjoy it together and relax without really having to push through any awkward tension that could still be around with the two of you being relative strangers.
         It was like a neutral ground to start off the fake relationship, while the two of you could learn about one another. It had to look real in public after all, Hawks wanted people off his back.
         Although, the last night the two of you had spent together after the bar had certainly been real. It had also left you so sore you could barely walk the next day, but that was another story for another day.
         The two of you sit down in one of the further rows, but not in the back. You have a good view of the screen; you notice as you sit down with Hawks.  You look over to him, and see that carefully guarded neutral expression on his face again. It’s almost as if there’s a mask he has under the skin of his face, that snaps back into place whenever it falters for a little, or he actually shows something of his true thoughts.
         It was almost eerie how well he did it, how second nature it seemed to him. No wonder the press couldn’t get shit on him, you thought, he’s not exactly an open book to read, and he’s actively trying to make it harder for people. You wondered if it was just because he preferred his privacy or if he had a really big secret that he felt he needed to keep.
         That was almost amusing, thinking the reason Hawks was so mysterious is some large secret that there was pressure on him to keep.
         The opening previews shook you out of your thoughts, seeing one for a book to movie adaptation that was coming out soon and you were super pumped to see. It had your favourite director working on it, and they said they’d worked closely with the author during the script writing process you and were really hopeful that it would turn out well.
         You looked to Hawks to whisper this to him in excitement and he leans over so you could whisper it so as to not disturb the people around you. When you’re done, he turns to whisper back in your ear, “Guess we’ll be back at the movies soon then.” He watches your face become a bright smile, a little heat in your face from excitement and a little embarrassment as he was giving you his full attention as you fangirled a bit.
         The movie was actually pretty decent, you thought during the middle of it. The acting carried the script though, and they were lucky at how much chemistry there was between the actors given most of them hadn’t done movies with each other before. A little way after that, Hawks leaned back in his chair, actually more relaxed than you’d ever seen him before, as he brought his arm back around you. You rolled your eyes at the little cliché he’d performed, but still found it sweet. You could feel the warmth he gave off and it made you feel comfortable and safe.
         After the movie, the two of you parted ways, but not before he gave you a sweet kiss on the cheek, and the promise to see you soon.
         “I’m going to be really busy the next few weeks, so it might be a little while before we can do something like this again.” He warned, “Things are really picking up with criminal activity and such.”
         “If you were going to be so busy you should be at home resting,” you scold, and then your eyes widen in shock at what you’d just blurted out. “I, uh- I mean…” you try to recover but Hawks was laughing hard.
         “Trying to get rid of me so soon? I thought the date was pretty fun, myself.” He teases, seeing what you’ll do next.
         “It was! Just um-, you’ve got to be safe out there and stuff. So, you should get your rest, I would understand if you had to cancel because of that.” You finish a little lamely.
         “That’s very sweet, Y/N, it really is. But honestly? Doing something like this is way more of a recharge for me. Makes me relax a little bit. So, thank you for the nice date. That is if you’ll have me?” he cocks an eyebrow with a crooked smile.
         “Of course, now go get some sleep, bird brain.” He chuckles, and with a wave he’s off, streaking through the air. You’re hit with a bit of a gust of wind, but seeing him fly up close? Totally worth it.
         You turn around and start walking to the bus stop that’ll take you back home, it had been quite a good date and you were in high spirits.
         You could see this whole arrangement working out quite well for you, if that first date was anything to go by.
           The fourth date was the one that he really started to show you what actually lay beneath the mask that he put on all the time. The two of you had been texting over a few weeks, and because he was so busy, a couple short get togethers happened, but this was the first time he had a whole day off for a long time.
         The topics the two of you had been texting about varied to asking simple questions about what kind of tea was your favourite, to what you thought would happen to you after you died. That had been a weird night, but you saw the next day it had been because Hawks had been on patrol and had been unable to completely save people from a villain. It had been one person out of hundreds, but you could feel his guilt through the screen.
         Among the lighter topics though, you found out that Hawks hadn’t really ever learned how to cook or bake. He said that he never learned from anyone, so he mostly did takeout and easy to make meals. You decided it would be fun to teach him how to bake, there were a few sweet treats that were easy enough to do. Certainly, he’d be able to handle it, you thought, especially since he made so many other difficult things look easy.
         Hawks, in fact, could not handle it, you’d later find out.
         The doorbell rings, and you take off your apron that you’d been wearing to get the baking started so that it wouldn’t take as long. There was still a fair amount of work to do, and the icing had to be made. You’re really hoping he enjoys it, it’s a new idea and you’re a little nervous.
You greet him and take his coat to hang it up as he takes off his shoes, he’s wearing cargo pants and unmatching socks, one pink and the other grey, along with a black t-shirt. You let him look around a bit before directing him to the kitchen a little nervously.
“Um, so I was thinking because you said you’d never really baked before that we could try and make a little something?” you’re fiddling with the hem of your shirt as he grabs your hands to stop you from doing that.
“That sounds like a really fun idea, Y/N. It’s really cute.” He gives you a quick smile as you smile at the praise. “Now. What are we making Chef?”
You giggle a bit at that. “I was thinking a carrot cake with some buttercream icing.”
“Well that doesn’t sound easy.” You shush him.
“It is! And I’ve already done some of it, so we can eat it sooner.”
He looks unconvinced. “I don’t know if I can handle this.”
“It’s baking,” you scoff. “You save people for a living, I’m pretty sure you can handle some baking.”
Famous last words, the start wasn’t to bad, Hawks fallowing your instructions carefully. It was when he got confident that he first fucked it up.
“So, now all you have to do is whip this with the blender for a few minutes around the bowl. When it starts getting a thicker consistency let me know, because that’s when you have to hand do it.” You’d decided on cinnamon rolls with a nice smooth icing on top that would become a glaze.
“Got it,” he chirps, putting the metal parts of the hand mixer in the bowl before starting it up and putting to medium high like you’d instructed him to do. “Maybe you were right, sweets, this isn’t too bad.”
“See? Even a bird brain like you can get it!” you laugh.
And then it happened.
After you said that to him, he turned around to give you a playful spank on the ass, forgetting he’d been holding the bowl on the counter in place with his hand. At the same time, he lifted the hand holding the mixer.
You both let out a sharp cry of surprise, you from getting slapped and both of you from the loud crash and the bowl goes flying and the icing gets flung everywhere. You look at him slack-jawed as he frantically turns off the hand mixer and gives you a sheepish look.
“Oops?” he says with a nervous smile.
“Oh. My god.” You get out before you start laughing so hard you’re keeled over, your stomach starting to hurt. “What the fuck Hawks? Hahah! How did you manage to get the bowl to fly that far!”
He scratches his hair and laughs along with you. “I’m actually really unsure, I honestly thought that I was going to get through this without messing it up. Sorry I ruined the icing, Y/N.”
You wave your hand. “It’s fine, cinnamon rolls are still good without the toppings.”
“Hold up.” You turn over and he has a calculating look on his face. “Is this why you did most of the mixing before I got here.”
“Noooooo…… of course not.” You say unconvincingly, knowing he already knows the answer.
“You’re so mean to me,” he pouts, sticking out his bottom lip like a child.
“Hey, but now we can still eat the cinnamon roles! So that’s a good thing.” You say brightly, swiping a bit of the icing with your finger and popping it in your mouth. He looks down at you and for once his eyes crinkle with a genuine smile and your heart skips a beat. He’s absolutely stunning, you think.
“Uh, let’s get – let’s get this all cleaned up, alright?” you get out turning yourself around to distract your thoughts from him. And his eyes, when they crinkle, and oh my god he’s such a cutie, what the fuck?
You somehow manage to avoid acting like a fool for the remainder of the time while the two of you clean up, trading words and jokes with one another, the conversation flowing like a lazy stream.
When they were done you squealed out in excitement and grabbed some mitts to take out the pan but as soon as you open the oven door, some feathers zip in to grab it. You look over at him and he gives you an innocent smile.
“Wouldn’t want you to accidentally drop them.” You scowl.
“I’m not the one who made a mess of the whole kitchen, you dork.”
“Fair enough, where do I put these?”
“Just put the tray on the pads in the dining room, I’m going to make some tea.”
“Alright.”
Once the water is heated, you grab a few different packets to see what he wants, and make your way over to the table with him. You gesture at the tea packets, and he takes the Camomile tea and you open the kettle to let him drop it in.
“Now we just have to wait for the tea to steep and the rolls to cool down! Not too bad if I do say so myself.” You tell him happily. It had been really fun watching him do something so carefree, he seemed more relaxed than normal.
“It was really fun Y/N.” he said with what you thought genuine sincerity. “I never got to really do this before, and it was a lot different than I thought it would be baking with someone.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it Hawks!”
“Uh, you could call me Takami? That’s my family name. Keigo Takami.” He says, stumbling over it a bit, as if the words were trying to rush themselves out of his mouth.
You pour out the tea into the cups you have, and you watch him dive into the rolls, face lit up. He really likes his sweets, and he says how good they are and how he was so amazed he’d had a part in making them.
“Most of the stuff I try to cook either tastes bland, gross, or its burnt.” He mentions offhandedly.
You look at him closely. “Seriously? I’m going to have to teach you how to cook so you can actually get some healthy food into you aren’t I?”
“You don’t have to do that!”
“Yes, I do.” He doesn’t argue with you, knowing that the battle is lost, and accepts it with a sigh.
The two of you finish the night by watching a movie, which leads to something, which leads to something else… It was a pretty awesome date night you think as you drift off to sleep.
           Although doing ‘couple-like’ things in public, you found the two of you were growing closer as friends, at least, outside of any bedrooms. There was something free and liberating about being a friend (with benefits) to Keigo, and you got to glimpse the tiny parts of his life that had physical forms, whether it be photos, or actions or stories.
         The more you learned though, the more you wanted to know more about him, to understand him and be there for him.
         You saw how lonely he actually was, he really wasn’t joking when he’d said that to you on the first night the two of you had seen each other in person. How his life when he wasn’t being the Number Two Hero was empty as if he didn’t really know what to do with it, as if he were lost and didn’t really know himself either.
         The only picture he had of people in his house was one with him, and a middle-aged woman with weary eyes that must’ve been his mother. The photo was a little yellowed, and a little crumpled, but the frame was simple wood with intricate carvings on the side. There was a wooden flower beside it.
         What had happened to him? To his family?
         Sometimes when you called him Keigo as you entered a room and he wasn’t facing you; he would shudder as if someone had a knife pressed to his throat, and there was nothing that he could do about it. Or when sometimes he would dose off and mumble in his sleep for someone to help him, he promises he’d do better next time… You always tried to wake him up gently when that happened, and he’d thank you and then shut down any attempts to talk about it. Every time. Not a single word.
         So, you let it be.
         Obviously, he didn’t know how to not be alone, and it stung you to the very core that nobody else was really there for him.
         Everyone needs a friend, and you were happy to be that friend for him.
           You realized the predicament you were in suddenly one day as you were going into your regular café for your morning coffee, ordering one for yourself and one for the winged hero who you planned to spend some time before patrol with. You didn’t even second guess ordering his coffee just as he liked it, excited to see the smile on his face when you’d give it to him. He’d still get surprised by the little gestures you’d do to show him that you cared, that it wasn’t just a game for you, that you were his friend.
         You hadn’t realized how rare it was to get a genuine smile from him, but you were willing to do so much just to see it. Then it hit you. You wouldn’t go to these lengths for any friend, Keigo was special to you in a way that the other’s in your life weren’t. You think you know what that means, and it terrifies you.
         You knew he didn’t do the whole relationship aspect, he’d said as much, and everything in his life had backed that up as well.
         The barista has to call you a couple times for you to snap you out of your mild panicked thoughts, looking a little annoyed. You quickly apologize, shoving your feelings down and grabbing the coffees hastily as you make your way to the place where he’d be meeting you. You were going to be a couple minutes late, which always made you flustered, and on top of that you were freaking out about trying to keep those emotions you’d buried down there.
         They were not going to see the light of day, you promised yourself that. Maybe you could cram them down so far deep that they’d disappear.
         Ha. As if. You knew it wasn’t going to be that easy, but that was a later problem that you weren’t prepared to deal with right now.
         When you get there, a smile does light up his face as he thanks you, relishing the coffee. The two of you start walking down the street, Hawks waving at people who yell at him, putting on that fake-smile-that-looks-real for people who ask him to join them in a picture, or sign something for them.
         He did it all with patience, but through the cracks you could see the weariness dripping through. The way he put it was that he wanted to do as little work as possible. You assume that’s for this part of the hero business as well.
         “Well, thank you for your support! I’ll be sure to do my best, don’t worry.” He says to a little boy, bending down and flicking his hat, which gets a smile and a giggle from the kid. “Thank you all for your support!” he says loudly as he stands up, and people cheer before easily making their way away from him, the dismissal clear.
         The two of you sip your coffee as you walk down the street. You said you’d go for a quick walk around the city with him before he has to clock in for patrol. While you’re walking, he laces his fingers with yours.
         “You don’t mind, do you?” he mutters under his breath. Your pulse is fluttering but you shake your head no and sip on your coffee. “Good, it’s getting chilly.”
         After you drop him off you can’t help but look at your hand and smile, giggling to yourself a bit as you squeeze your hand. His hand had been so smooth compared to what you thought it would be like, but then again, he didn’t really fight with his fists and he wore gloves. It had felt so good though, the weight of his hand in yours.
           After you noticed how you felt about Keigo though, it became harder and harder to try and ignore the feelings that seemed to bubble up whenever the two of you would talk or text or hang out. Little pangs of excitement would ring out against your will whenever the chime of the ringtone you’d set for him would sound.
         You perk up a little as once again it alerts, going over to read what he sent you.
Keigo: gonna have to be away a little more in the next few weeks -_-
Y/N: aww why :(
Keigo: secret stuff shhhhhh. I gotta go check out some weird villain movement
Y/N: stay safe ok?
Keigo: don’t worry, they won’t catch me im too fast :P
Y/N: srsly if you die ill kill you >:(
           You don’t hear from it at all in the next few weeks, and you didn’t realize how much the two of you had been in contact with, but your days felt strangely empty without the noise that he made so often.
         You missed him, and more than that, you were worried about him so much. Since when did top heroes go on secret assignments? Wasn’t that stuff for the underground heroes to take care of? Why did he sound so calm about it?
         The questions whirled around in your head, day in and day out. The couple of weeks pass in a daze for you, everything seeming out of wack in your life. Part of you was angry at yourself for being so distracted by him, and the other part was busy screaming all the worst-case scenarios that could happen to him. You have nightmares about him injured and bleeding, eyes lifeless. You check your phone at least a few times whenever you can, just seeing if maybe he’s sent a text to you.
         You’ve sent him a few messages here and there, small things like “I hope you’re doing ok!”, or “I miss you”, or “I’m really hoping you’re safe.”
         In the middle of the third week, you hear that chime and you jump up, excited. It’s a short message, but he must be exhausted from his mission, he was away for so long. He asked if you could go over to his apartment sometime soon. Said he needed to talk to you and stuff. His text was short and to the point, he seemed nervous about something.
         Some of the worries had disappeared at the ringing noise came creeping back at that, but you responded that you would whenever you were both free. He said that he’d be off of work for a little while, which was concerning, so you were going over tomorrow. You settled in for a rough night.
           What were you supposed to bring to someone’s house when they had been tossed into secret mission to track down some dangerous villains and were most likely injured? There wasn’t a handguide on that unfortunately, but you did know that he loved one of the soups you had made one time. So, you made some in the morning when you got up, put it in a container and on your way to his apartment for lunch.
         Hopefully that would be acceptable, even though you knew Keigo didn’t really care that much about pomp and other gifts. You think he was grateful to have some company, he loved being on the move and sitting still for a long time would be a special type of hell.
         So, you wanted to do something nice for him.
         In all honesty, you didn’t think it would be that bad when he opened the door with a bruised and cut face, as well as an arm sling with his ribs all bandaged up.
         “Oh my god!” you screamed, your free hands flying up to your face. “What the hell happened to you!” he shushes you and pulls you into the apartment.
         “Not so loud! It’s not public!” he chastises you.
         “Oh, right sorry. I’m just – Keigo, what happened to you? You disappear for almost three full weeks and you come back looking as if someone used you as a punching bag.”
         “Surprisingly enough, that metaphor is rather accurate.” You feel your eyes bugging out of your head and he sees that. “Hey! Don’t worry, this isn’t the worse I’ve been beaten up- Oh god that’s probably not comforting.”
         “No, it isn’t! Is there anything you can tell me?” you plead.
         He shakes his head sadly, pretending to zip up his lips and lock them. “But I can tell you that I’ll be back to normal in about a week or so. I could also tell you about the people I met that weren’t y’know, villains. And you brought soup! You’re the best dove.” You blush a little at the new nickname, but you did notice that the nervousness he’d had when he’d been texting with was definitely still there and it put you off a little bit.
         The two of you ate, the only sounds coming from eating, and the brief comments that Keigo was giving about where he’d been. You nodded in interest, interjecting every once and a while to ask a question for detail.
         After the meal, the two of you sat down together in silence until Keigo cleared his throat.
         “Can I talk to you about something more serious?” You nodded, here came what he’d been stressing about since last night. “God, ok this is harder than I thought for some reason.” He gives a dry chuckle. You stay silent. “Um, I think we’re going to have to take a break from the whole ‘side benefits’ we got going along, you okay with that, dove?” ah. So, this was it. You could feel your heartbeat in your ears. But at least you knew what, now you wanted to hear the why.
         But Keigo was fickle, he didn’t like being backed into a corner. If you would’ve directly asked, you’d get no answer that would satisfy you. So you sit their with your heart falling out of your chest.
         “I mean, if that’s what you want.” You say as neutrally as possible, trying to hide the hurt from your features. It didn’t work as well as you planned based on Keigo’s scowl.
         “You’ve got to talk to me, what about that makes you upset?”
         “It’s nothing, I’ll get over it. I knew this wouldn’t last forever.” You mutter, trying to shrug him off. At least this way you could get over him, maybe.
         “I did say no guarantees at the beginning,” he frowns. It felt like he was rubbing it into your face, and it fucking stung like a cut being washed with rubbing alcohol. “I told you that I’m not good with this whole interpersonal thing.”
         “Yeah, I fucking know that!” each word was like a sting, and your voice echoes in the empty apartment. “Can you at least tell me why.” You hate that your voice cracks on that last sentence.
“There’s this someone I’ve been talking too, when I was out there. A little rough around the edges, but really fucking amazing. I was trying to slip into their friend group you know? Turns out we felt the same way.”
         You feel your heart drop out of your chest and into your stomach. “Wow, Keigo! That’s amazing, I’m so happy for you!” you hear yourself say. The words ring hollow, but he’s so wrapped up in his excitement that for once, he doesn’t notice.
         “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before,” he enthuses, impassioned. “It’s like a totally different wavelength you know.” His feathers were doing this cute little ruffling, and your heart ached. You had to keep your hand back from going to smooth them. Some nights, when the two of you were just hanging out and relaxing, he’d let you smooth them out. He said it felt good, and the texture always made you feel calm.
         You needed some of that calm right now.
         “I’m glad you found someone then.” And you really were, you knew how alone he was. You were happy he found someone he liked. You just wish it had been you.
           You think it was some type of torture, watching Keigo fall in love with someone else. The way he’d talk with his eyes lighting up, the way that he’d do that thing where his feathers would ruffle when he’d think of them with a dopey smile on his face when he thinks you’re too occupied to pay attention to him.
         It fucking killed you when it happens, although you made no effort to break away from him. You couldn’t. You knew that he needed you there, he’d said as much with his small actions, the way he thanked you every time you spent time with him.
         You wondered what you had done to deserve this.
           Eventually, it was too much for you too handle, when he’d started leaving the city more often to go visit them, you started making excuses for why you didn’t have as much time for him in the few weeks.
         “Works really busy this week sorry.”
         “Oh, I’m sick, and I wouldn’t want you to catch it”
         “I’m sorry I’m really tired, I can’t hang out today.
You couldn’t get over him, and you couldn’t tell him either. It seems you could do nothing but ache while he prospered.
It was hard, making distance. You hadn’t realized how close the two of you had gotten, and you hadn’t realized that you had needed him as much as he needed you.
         The phone rings and you see the caller.
         Of course, it’s him. It seems no matter how you try to distance yourself you can’t really get away from him. It always seems like you’re in his wingspan. Always in his reach.
         You pick up the phone, “Hey Keigo! What’s up.”
           You were a fucking fool. Keigo might’ve been the one with the wings, but you’d flown too close to the sun that you’d wanted to see and learn about. The sun that you’d wanted to bask in the warmth in and claim as your own.
         You’d forgotten one of the first things that he’d texted you.
         It hurt so bad.
         You were such an idiot.
           At first when Keigo said he’d been dumped a few months later; you didn’t believe him. Who the fuck would tell Hawks that he wasn’t good enough for them?
         “Ha-ha, very funny joke Keigo.” You say sarcastically. “Don’t stand there out in the rain, idiot.” You gesture for him to come inside.
         He makes his way over the doorstep, eyes unfocused as if he hadn’t even noticed the fact that it was raining. He wordlessly hands you his phone, and you gasp at the text that he’d been sent.
         They said he couldn’t be trusted, that they didn’t want to work to get him to open himself up, that even he wasn’t worth the amount of effort they’d need to use in order to actually get to know him.
         “Still don’t believe me?” His voice cracks on the last word, as he takes a deep breath to compose himself.
         “Fuck, Keigo. I’m so sorry. I didn’t- I’m so sorry.” You bring him in, sit him down and go grab him a towel with some old clothes one of your exes had left in your home when you’d broken up.
         You hand it to him and tell him to shower if he wants to, but at least put some dry clothes on. He listlessly follows your instructions, and you’ve never seen him look so dull. It scared you. While he’s busy though – you vaguely hear your shower in the background get turned on – as you put some tea on. Chamomile, his first choice all those months ago. It was his comfort tea. You also slipped into your room to grab the softest blanket you had.
         You waited about half an hour for him, so you turned on the gas fireplace in the room, warming yourself and staring into the flames as you waited.
         Who would say something so terrible?
         You’d never met his partner, Keigo was secretive at the best of times, but when it came to people, he was especially paranoid. You knew it was because he’d amassed enemies in his years as a pro, but sometimes it was frustrating to deal with.
         However, they must have been truly awful to say something like that.
         You wonder if they would’ve said that stuff if they’d seen the empty apartment, bare of most things that gave a house a character. The lone photo which looked to be at least a decade, maybe closer to two, years old.
         You wonder if they had seen past the mask too, and if that had scared them. Or maybe they hadn’t even noticed it in the first place given the wording of the final text. You knew the pain Keigo was going through, you lived through it every. Single. Day.
         You hated seeing it, but a small selfish part of you celebrated the fact that you had a chance again.
         Pathetic.
         You place your head in your hands, trying to clean your thoughts. You needed to be here for him again, and you were going to be.
         When he walks into the room, he notices you and slumps down into the couch, his eyes red, and his jaw clenched.
         But he wasn’t crying, and it didn’t look like he had either. The rest of his face would be messed up and red if that were the case.
         “You can let it out, Keigo.” You put a hand on his arm and rubbed comforting circles into his back, trying to ease him through it. “You don’t have to keep everything bottled up inside.”
         He laughs bitterly at that, and you’re taken aback. “Yeah, actually, I do. But I appreciate the sentiment.”
         “Alright. Then we can just rest, and have some tea, maybe put on some calming music. Does that sound good to you?”
         He nods, he can’t look up at you though. “Thanks, Y/N.”
         “No problem, Keigo. Be right back.”
         When you do come back, he’s just laying there, staring blankly in front of him. He looks lost and confused.
         “Have you ever felt like this,” he asks in a soft voice. A surge of anger hits you, after all this time he still hasn’t noticed. But you push it down and clear your throat instead.
         “Yeah. I’ve felt like that a lot in my life.”
         “I’m sorry.” He states simply. “It’s awful.”
         “Yeah,” you agree.
         The rest of the night the two of you sit quietly, sipping tea and listening to music. At some point the two of you end up sleeping on one another.
           The weeks pass, and Keigo starts to recover, as that starts to happen, the two of you start to slip back into your previous relationship. You know it’s a mistake, but you don’t stop it. You almost encourage it, because it feels good. It feels like he actually wants you and you can believe it for a few moments before it comes crashing down around you. You know you’re a rebound, even if Keigo himself doesn’t realize that’s what he’s doing.
         So, there he is again, using you as a way to fill his life up to make up for the something he can’t have. Coping with his issues by having someone he could distract himself with, that he trusted and knew cared about his wellbeing.
         You wish you could say you hated it. But then you’d be a liar.
         Because you would take any of the time that he was willing to give to you. You were in deep, and you knew that, just wished you would have a way that you could stop it, rather than just going along for the ride, and hoping that he didn’t completely destroy your heart.
         Although that possibility seemed to be more and more likely these days.
           One day, you realize that you can’t do this anymore.
         One day, you think that you’re not going to allow yourself to do this to yourself or him anymore.
One day you decide that you have to take a full step back. No half done measures this time, the next time he called, you weren’t answering, and you weren’t listening. Maybe taking a complete break from the winged hero would somehow allow you to get over your feelings for him. Maybe the separation would do you some good, you could try and meet some new people, hang out with older friends.
         You have a plan, a way to bring it up to him, to say that you can’t do the whole song and dance with him anymore, you can’t play around because it’s messing with your head. You plan on telling him that you just need some space to rest and recover, and that you’ll be fine in a little while.
         It doesn’t happen that way.
         You’re in his apartment and you’re both eating some takeout, you’ve been on edge the entire night, and of course Keigo notices. He tries to tell you a few happy stories he’s seen that day, tries to give you space to relax. He leans in to kiss you and you panic.
         You jump up and say “I have to leave!” in a really panicked voice.
         “Woah hey, what the fuck’s going on?” He stands up, walking after you.
         “I just, I had a way to tell you- and I’m not ready and fuck I wish I didn’t have to say this but I just can’t do it!” You’re rambling, you know that, but you can’t seem to get your thoughts together, they’re bouncing around your head, refusing to slow down so you can’t catch them, and you’re sitting there panicking.
         “You need to talk to me,” he shouts, breaking you out of your daze.
         “I can’t do this anymore!” you cry out, all the bottled pain spilling up and gushing out. You can’t stop it, and you keep going. “I fell for you in week three, Keigo. WEEK THREE of our arrangement. And guess what! I still fucking love you, you absolute moron! You didn’t notice SHIT, and I didn’t say anything because I knew you didn’t feel the same way, but I knew you needed someone. And sometimes I fucking wish I didn’t, that I spoke up for myself and said something sooner because it’s brought me nothing but heartbreak after heartbreak, and so much insecurity!”
         He looks at you shocked. “Wait… you, but?”
         You laugh, a little hysterically, all the emotions bubbling over. There’s a strange sense of relief. It’s all out in the open now. “Fucking tell the press! I finally found the way to make the Hawks absolutely speechless!”
         “Wait, hold up, you need to slow down. I’m trying to understand what’s going on, and you aren’t exactly making this easier.” His eyes are wide, you’ve never seen him so completely and utterly lost. That was the final straw for you, and you start sobbing, tears streaming down your face as you try to keep your wails of pain inside.
         You put yourself together in silence, his sharp eyes trained on you, you can feel it. Your sobs and sniffles grow less and less frequent as you gain control.
         “I need space Keigo. I need to have space so I can get over you properly, and I couldn’t do it before, I thought I could! I just need to sort everything out, please.” You’re pleading with him, your voice drained and emotionless. “Just, don’t contact me please. Let me” You walk away before he can even answer, leaving him dumbfounded.
         He grabs your arm before you reach the door, a little rougher than he usually is. “You don’t get to say all these things without even giving me a chance to respond!” His usually calm exterior is flustered, a little unhinged with panic and anger.
         “I can! I told you how I feel! Nothing you say will be able to change how I feel right now Keigo! Nothing!” you feel your heart ripping to shreds as you see, for the first time in your one on one time in months, the mask returning as he looks it over too.
         “Got it.” He says short and clipped off. “Thanks for just cutting me off like everyone else did. Get the fuck out of my apartment.”
         You go, quietly, unable to look him in the eye. The door slams behind you, with an ominous thud.
           The first time you gather up the courage to call him again to apologize, he doesn’t pick up. You expected that. You were hoping for that because you weren’t sure if you had the strength to say it to him.
         You tell him you’re sorry. You tell him you know you made mistakes, that you knew you didn’t communicate right and you should’ve trusted him with that. You tell him you miss him because you do. He’d wormed his way into the cracks in your heart that he’d had a part in making.
         You tell him you want to have a place in his life, and that he still has a place in yours, but you’re not ready yet.
         You don’t know if he got it until he calls you back. He leaves a message for you this time as you were in the shower when it rang.
         He tells you he understands now, even though it hurt like hell. He says he’s going to give you space, but would still leave you messages every once in a while. He says that of course you’re going to have a place in his life. He says that you’re the only person in a long time that had even bothered to get to see what was underneath his persona. He says that when you’re ready, to either call him back, or answer one of his calls.
         So that’s how it happens. On some good days and some bad days, Keigo calls you. You listen to every single one, multiple times. Your feelings don’t die down though. You don’t know what else you can do but wait. The sad messages tear at your heart, but you know you can’t be there for him right now properly.
         One of them you can’t help but hear and think that you need to call him, need to reach out to him. He’d sounded desperate in a way you hadn’t heard from him before and it chilled you down to the bone.
         But you don’t. You’re too scared of what you’ll do or say.
         On one of the days where you can’t sleep, you sit and stare at your ceiling, thinking about nothing much. Idle thoughts about the project you were working on, what you had to stock up on the next time you went shopping, the puzzle that you’d gotten stuck on in the current level of your video game.
         That’s when the ringing broke out on your bedside table. That ringtone. You still loved him, and he never called this late. You picked up the phone.
         “It’s two am, I know that, but I need you Y/N…”
         “Hawks? What’s going on. Are you ok?”
         He laughs loudly, “Fuck, no. Can I come over?” He almost manages to hide the waver in his voice.
         You sigh, putting a hand to your temple. “I’m sorry, but you can’t come to me anymore, you know that.” You say it softly.
         “You picked up.”
         “I did.”
         “You still love me.”
         “Goddamn it Keigo, yes! Is that what you really wanted to hear right now at two in the morning?”
         His tone switches to serious. “No. That’s not it at all. Please. It’s important.”
         “I could just hang up.”
         “You won’t.”
         You let out a stream of curses that would make a sailor blush.
         “Fine.” You give in with a groan and the starting of a stress headache. “I’m leaving the door unlocked for 10 minutes. That’s all you have.”
         “That’s way more than I need.” You hear the click of the receiver tone and you move your ass out of bed, going to go unlock the door. There you wait in your pjs, your arms crossed glaring at the door and daring it to open.
         Before the 10 minutes is up, it defies you and clicks open, and in he comes.
         “Hey.” He just looks at you, and he looks exhausted. “Thanks for listening.”
         You resist the urge to just run up to him and take him into your arms. He’d feel so good to cuddle. Instead you say in a wary voice; “What do you want Keigo, it’s late and I’m tired.”
         “I know,” he whispers. “I am too, but.” He swallows hard. “I needed to see you before. Before everything gets fucked up.”
         “What the hell are you talking about? And close the door it’s cold outside.” He follows your instructions without complaint and quietly.
         “You’re going to want to be sitting down for this,” he warns.
         You can see he’s not playing around, so you heed him and sit on the couch, and he sits on the chair, dragging it over so he’s opposite you.
         “First off. An explanation of what I mean.” You gesture at him to carry on. “Remember those villains I had to check up on? Well, they were actually mobilizing an attack on the Hero Commission HQ which is in the city.”
         “No way, seriously?” you can’t believe that they would get that bold so soon. It was insane, and yet, you believed it.
         “Well yeah. I came by to warn you, because there’s going to be so much chaos, and in that chaos, it’s more likely for you to either die or get hurt.” Your hands found their way to your hair, brushing through it nervously. “Hey, hey, listen Y/N” he goes to hold your shoulder’s and looks you in the eye. “The heroes have been preparing for a few months now, taking out some of the villains they can. Everyone’s going to have a much better chance of survival. But staying inside and not opening to door for anyone? That’s going to keep you safest. Understand?” You nod.
         Something niggled at the back of your mind though. “You said first thing.”
         “Yeah…”
         “Well? Are you going to tell me?”
         “You’re going to slap me.”
         “Well that’s not a fucking good sign.”
         He rubs the back of his neck. “Well, I figured out why you’d shocked me so much with what you’d said. When we went our separate ways for a little while.”
         You felt your stomach sink. This couldn’t be good, why did he have to bring that up now. “Yeah?”
         “I didn’t trust my partner with anything that I’d shown you. You were the only person I’ve opened up too since… well a long time let’s put it like that. I haven’t really actually let myself feel things for a while, so I misunderstood them. I thought they were hot; I liked the look and the way they talked. I wasn’t falling love with them. I was in love with you the whole time and I didn’t realize it.” You felt like your heart stopped beating.
         “Keigo?”
         “Yes?”
         “You didn’t think to actually say that in one of your fucking messages?”
         “I didn’t think you were ready to hear it.”
         “I mean maybe not, but it would’ve saved a lot of headache!”
         “I’m sorry.” He says, “I’m learning, but I’m trying my best if you’ll take me?”
         “Of course, I will you stupid bird. It’s going to take work, but I know where I went wrong.”
         “Me too. I believe in us. Heh, us. I like the sound of that.” He has a goofy smile on his face.
         “Oh my god you’re such a dork.” You lean up to press a light kiss on his lips, which he eagerly responds too. “You look exhausted though. Let’s get you into bed, so you can protect the city hero.”
         “Sounds amazing to me.” He follows you into the room, stripping down and snuggling you.
         “I’m likely going to be gone by the time you wake up, y’know?”
         You sigh. “You better not die on me or I’ll kill you.”
         “For you? I’ll stay as safe as possible.”
         “Good.”
           The next day, everything was in chaos, just like Keigo had said it would be. You didn’t even need to leave your house to know that. You saw it on your phone screen as you stayed hidden in your closet, to terrified to move or do anything else. A couple buildings had fallen near you, but luckily your building had stayed safe.
         You don’t remember much else about that day. Fear. Praying that the people you cared about would be safe. Darkness. The sounds of massive explosions and destruction.
         Terrible.
           There were massive body counts of all different people, with varying quirks, lives, beliefs and goals. The damage was catastrophic. You almost couldn’t believe that it had been better than what would’ve happened if there wasn’t early intel and missions.
         You noticed though, that everyone was treated the same in death. Hero, civilian, villain, vigilante, all of them were buried properly, paid for by the Commission themselves. Some of the villains had escaped, there were lots more dead hero students than people wanted to admit, and everyone was more beaten down and broken than before.
         But…
         Nobody had seen or heard anything about Hawks though. It was as if he’d simply vanished into thin air, and the only thing that kept you sane? They hadn’t found his body.
         What about that cremation guy? The traitorous voice in your head spoke out. You told it to fuck off.
         Hawks, Keigo, was not dead. He couldn’t be. You’d finally reached an understanding!
         You refused to allow the possibility in your mind.
           It was a week later when you finally got some news. There was a call from the hospital, and you immediately, you picked up.
         “Is this Y/N Y/LN?”
         “Yes,” you practically shout. “Yes, I am.” You say a bit softer.
         “I’m calling about a Keigo Takami? Do you know this man?”
         “Yes, yes, I do, please is he alive?” you can’t keep the desperation from your voice.
         There’s a pause. “…Yes. He is alive. They’re trying to test to see what the extent of the damage is. You were the only other person other than his mother to be on his emergency contact list, yet you have no relation to him, were you aware of this?”
         “Yes,” the lie comes easily, despite the surprise bubbling up.
         He gives you the address and you promise to be there as soon as you can. You can deal with this, you think, he’s alive and so the two of you can work on it and fix it together like you’d planned.
         Except you couldn’t.
         Little to no brain function, they said. Halfway done the process to become a host body for a new nomu, they said. How were you supposed to fix everything together if Keigo was right there, but also completely gone?
         You collapsed into the chair beside his bed, looking over at him. The man you’d loved for over half a year. The doctors went silent, all of them leaving except for one, who stood silently. You reached out and held his hand in yours. Still softer and smoother than what a pro hero’s hand should be like. Still warm, like the first time you’d held it. You could even feel his pulse.
         It was almost funny; you were finished before the two of you even got started. You couldn’t even say that the two of you had ever truly been together, but that’s what made it hurt more, you think. Nobody would believe you, a random nobody? Dating the number two pro hero? Yeah what an attention whore.
         You sat there, tears building in your eyes, and spilling out
         “Keigo, please just give me one more message?” you whisper, crying harder now. “I’ll be waiting for it, so you better call me when you’re ready, because I’ll be waiting for you.”
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rocksandrobots · 3 years
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Of Rocks and Robots Ch. 37 - Happy Birthday!
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"What if we gave her some jewelry?" Varian asked. "Like a necklace and some matching earrings?"
Hiro shot the idea down. "Naw, she already has a whole jewelry box full of that stuff and she hardly ever wears it."
The two boys were standing in the lunch line at the cafeteria discussing what to get Aunt Cass for her birthday.
"Hmmm...what about a new cookbook, then?"
Once again Hiro turned the idea down. "Can't she just look up recipes on her phone?"
"Well then.. I don't know. Why don't you come up with something?" Varian huffed as he grabbed an apple off the bar.
"Ooookay. What about… something sentimental, like a hand made card?" Hiro suggested.
"That's lame."
"Is not. Listen, she'll cry her eyes out over it. Trust me."
"Oh come on, we're not four year-olds. We got money now, let's actually buy her something nice."
The two teens stopped in front of the salad bar where the head lunch lady was busy cutting up vegetables. They continued their debate while they waited on the container holding the salad to be refilled.
"Like what?" Hiro asked. "She hasn't said what she wanted, and I'm sure if there was anything she did want she could just go out and buy it herself."
Varian crossed his arms and cupped his chin in thought. Then his eyes fell on the elderly lunch lady, who was still busy preparing the salad.
"Hey Miss Itamae, I don't suppose you could give us any womanly insight into what a lady turning 37 might want for her birthday?"
The grumpy cafeteria worker didn't answer. She just glared at them both as she deftly sliced a head of lettuce in two. Then went back to cutting up more vegetables with practiced precision.  
"You're sparkling conversation is delightful as always Miss Itamae." Hiro said deadpan.
"Hey, wait, no, that's it!" Varian nudged him excitedly. "We'll buy Aunt Cass some new kitchen knives!" He then turned back to the lunch lady with a smug smile. "Thank you for the idea, Miss Itamae. You're always so helpful."
The insincerity dripped from his voice like honey and Miss Itamae only pursed her lips in irritation as she began to chop the lettuce even more fiercely.
Hiro rolled his eyes. The, quite literally, unspoken feud between them and the head lunch lady had only ramped up these last two weeks. True, she had been a little too gleeful when she pulled out the pan of leftover Monday's Mystery Meatloaf to give them, after handing the last hot ham sandwich to Karmi right before them, but Varian antagonizing the woman with his phony politeness probably didn't help matters.
"Aunt Cass literally has several sets of chef knives. I think she, like, collects them at this point."
"Well what if we just expanded her collection then? Does she have a machete yet? Or perhaps one of those big butcher axes?"
Hiro narrowed his eyes at the other boy. "Are you serious? What would she want with a machete?"
Varian shrugged.
"Yeah, no." Hiro continued. "I doubt we could even legally buy one."
"Really? Man, you can't do anything in America." Varian sighed.
Hiro gave Varian another irritated look of disbelief, but before he could say anything else a voice shouted out to them.
"Clear the way! Look out!" Fred yelled.
He was barreling right towards them on a pair of roller skates; careening out of control.
He couldn't stop and both boys had to quickly scramble out the way. Miss Itamae was not so fortunate.
Fred hit the salad bar and toppled over the edge, sending the vegetables flying everywhere and knocking over the poor woman.
"Ooops. Hehe… my bad." Fred said sheepishly as the lunch lady stood back up with a salad bowl on top of her head, lettuce stuck in her hair net and a slice of tomato dripping off her nose.
Miss Itamae stared at him with flame in her eyes and seethed with gritted teeth. Fred tried to helpfully brush off the bits of vegetables that sat on her shoulders, but this only made her even more angry.
She hissed at him and Fred scurried back over the railing as quickly as possible before ducking down on the other side of the bar. He cautiously peaked his head up just long enough to watch the cafeteria lady storm off in a huff; presumably to go get a broom.
"Are those Gogo's skates?" Hiro asked once the lunch lady had left.
"Uh, yeah." Fred admitted guiltily.
"Does she know that you have them?" Varian asked.
Fred dodged the question "Ummm… maybe?"
"Do we even want to know what's going on?" Hiro asked in a weary manner.
"Hiro, as your friend," Fred said as he placed a bracing hand upon the other teen's shoulder, "I feel it's my sworn d- woah, duty to protect you. The less the two of you know the better." And with that solemn proclamation the skates gave out from under him and Fred flopped to the ground.
"In other words she doesn't know, and when she finds out she's going to kill you." Varian confirmed.
"'Kill' is such a strong word, ya know." Fred strained as he gripped the bar and hoisted himself back up.
Varian and Hiro exchanged confused glances and just shrugged.
Hiro sighed and decided to set the matter aside. "Well, Varian and I were just discussing what to get Aunt Cass for her birthday. Got any ideas?"
Fred hummed in thought as he gave the matter some consideration. "Well mom always wants to be taken out to some new fancy restaurant on her birthdays."
"Hey now there's an idea," Varian enthused. "We cook dinner for her!"
"Oh no, you are not fixing any more weird Coronian recipes." Hiro replied.
"Hey, my cooking isn't weird. Besides all you know how to make is cereal."
"Yeah, I'm not a chef, neither of us are."
Varian pouted at that but before he could respond Hiro continued on. "Look, why don't we take her out? It's something she doesn't get to do often and we could both split the bill, deal?"
"Well alright," Varian agreed, "at least it'll save us from having to do the dishes."
"Great!" Fred cheered. "I even know of a place you can take her. Mom loves it."
Just then Gogo burst through the cafeteria doors.
"Hey! Give me back my blades!" She yelled.
"Uh oh." Fred said and clumsily skated away as Gogo furiously ran after him.
"Come on, we better make sure she doesn't actually murder him." Hiro sighed as he started to run after them.
Varian followed, but paused long enough to cheekily wave goodbye to Miss Itamae, who had just finished cleaning up Fred's mess and was back to chopping vegetables once more.
"See ya, Miss Itamae."
The woman never answered back. Instead she just scowled at him as she menacingly held up her knife before slamming it back down hard upon a head of lettuce, severing it in two.
Varian gulped as he backed away and hurried out the door after his friends. Maybe they were pushing the little old woman too hard, he thought.
                                                  ------------------------
"Are you sure it's not under Hamada?" Hiro asked the maître d' who stood at the front of the restaurant's door. "Then try Templeton."
No such luck.
"Hey, tell them to check under Quirinson." Varian nudged him.
Hiro, Varian, and Aunt Cass stood in line at the Aragosta; the fine dining place that Fred had helped them make reservations for. Only the host was having trouble finding said reservations.
"Okay, how about Quirinson?"
The host shook his head.
"Frederickson?" Hiro squeaked hopefully. The matradee frowned.
Hiro sighed in resignation as Aunt Cass gently scooted the boys out of the way of the other guests who were also waiting to get in.
"Hey, it's okay." She encouraged, "So they lost the reservations. It happens. We can go someplace else and still have tons of fun. How about karaoke instead?"
"Let me check back with Fred first, before we decide to leave." Hiro said as he pulled out his phone.
The phone went straight to voicemail and Hiro hung up in irritation. Things weren't going as planned.
Just then Krei, of all people, walked up next to them on the sidewalk. He was also on his cell phone and didn't seem to notice them.
"But mother, I had these reservations for weeks!" He complained. "Yes I know your annual fundraising event for Helpers Helping the Helpless is important…. Yes I understand that the juggling seals canceled last minute... but surely you could just hire a new act? Why, Judy, my secretary, she can juggle fire for ya, I mean how hard can it be if a dumb seal can do it, right?" He frowned as he listened to the other end of the call, and then sighed deeply, "Alright, you win, as always. Love you too, mother." And with that he hung up.
That's when Keri noticed their little group.  
"Oh, uh, hi Cass. Intern. Intern's new cousin-brother-whatever... Fancy meeting you here."
He gave an awkward grin and rocked back and forth on his heels, like a school boy accidentally running into his crush at the mall.  
Aunt Cass gave an equally awkward smile. "Hi, Alistair. Trouble with your date?" She joked.
"Oh well, you know mom. Lovely woman, but can't not take charge when there's a crisis." He nervously chuckled. "So what brings you to Aragosta's?"
"We're taking Aunt Cass out for her birthday." Varian replied.
"Oh, it's your birthday!? And here I didn't bring you a gift. Well, happy birthday, Cass. You look great tonight."
Aunt Cass blushed, "Oh well, thank you, but unfortunately the restaurant's lost our reservations, sooo…"
"So it looks like we'll just have to go elsewhere." Hiro interrupted. He gave Krei a hard glare as he tried to quickly shuffle away his aunt. "Bye, Krei."
"Oh now wait a minute," Keri stopped them, "You lost a reservation, and I got a table waiting for me that I'm not going to use anymore. Why not take my spot on the list?"
"Oh, that's nice of you Alistair, but-"
"No buts, I insist. Call it a birthday present."
Keri gave his most charming smile and Aunt Cass looked at the two boys questioningly. Varian enthusiastically nodded yes, while Hiro silently pleaded 'no' to her.
"Weeelll, if you insist." She agreed.
"Wonderful! I'll go square it with the matradee." And with that he hurried off to speak with the host.
"Aunt Cass, why?" Hiro whined as soon as the businessman was out of ear shot.
"Why not?" Varian spoke up. "He's giving us a free table. Just cause you don't like the gu-"
"Boys, boys," Aunt Cass interceded before an argument broke out. "Look, I know Alistair can be a little… hmm.. difficult to get along with sometimes, but he means well and this is a nice gesture. It'd be rude to turn it down."
With that final word Krei returned.
"You're all set. Table number five, and just tell the waiter to put the meal on my tab."
"We were going to pay." Hiro grumbled.
"Oh that's so cute," Krei laughed, "you boys, wanting to do something nice for your aunt. But seriously though, you'll have to take out a loan just to afford the hors d'oeuvres."
Varian raised a worried eyebrow while Hiro only gave an annoyed huff.
"Look this is my treat. Dinner is on me." Keri continued, "Just give the host up there my last name."
He then gave another awkward smile and waved goodbye before turning to leave.
Aunt Cass frowned and Hiro's stomach dropped as he realized what she was about to do. He tried to say no. He tried to speak reason with his aunt, but before he could stop her she was already calling after Krei.
"Oh, won't you join us?" She asked.
"Naw, I couldn't." He sheepishly kicked the ground.
"Good." Hiro said, but was completely ignored as Keri immediately followed up with a, "But if you insist."
He and Aunt Cass shared a smile as they stared into each other's eyes transfixed and Hiro could only let out groan.
                                                 ------------------------
The lavish interior of the eatery was adorned with Tuscan columns, high vaulted ceilings, and expensive oil paintings that hung upon the walls depicting the ocean. The restaurant was known for its seafood and so there were also aquariums everywhere you looked, tucked away in the most unlikely of places.
Varian couldn't help but curiously stare at one particular aquarium lodged into the center of one of the columns. It didn't look like the most efficient place to house costly and rare tropical sea life to him, but hey, he wasn't a millionaire restaurateur, so what did he know?
The little party was seated near said column at a table covered in white linen and with gold plated cutlery already laid out upon it. They were then given menus bound in black leather by the waiter who was dressed to the nines in a tuxedo, complete with a bow tie.
Varian self consciously looked down at his own plain button down shirt and grey vest and felt hopelessly underdressed in comparison. This place was far more ostentatious than he had been unexpecting.
Well at least he had put more effort into his outfit than Hiro, who's idea of dressing up was to wear his black cargo shorts instead of his usual tan ones. Not that the other boy cared in the slightest. Hiro wasn't the least bit embarrassed about standing out in high society. He was too busy giving Krei the stink eye as the businessman flirted with Aunt Cass.
Varian rolled his eyes in dismissal of Hiro's petty disapproval of their aunt's choice in men and opened the menu. What he saw made his jaw drop.
"Ninety dollars for lobster!?" He sputtered. "Who pays nearly a hundred bucks for freakin' lobster?" He hissed at Hiro under his breath.
Hiro only shrugged, "Yeah, lobster is expensive. So what?"
"But it's lobster." Varian reiterated.
Hiro only stared at him blankly.
"You live right next to the ocean." Varian explained. "You can literally just walk down to the docks and catch yourself one to eat."
"Yeah, but who wants to do that."
"I would. I would much rather catch it and cook it myself than pay a hundred dollars for a lobster ." The disdain in his voice was evident.
"Yeah, but you're weird." Hiro quipped.
Varian gave him a hard look of annoyance, but Hiro only smugly smiled back; knowing full well that Varian wouldn't jump him in such an esteemed establishment with Aunt Cass right there looking on.
Varian grumbled under his breath and went back to looking at the menu. He was going to find at least one thing on here that didn't seem like a colossal waste of money, he swore it.
Back home, seafood was one of cheapest meats you buy at the market. Freshwater or salt, it didn't matter, anyone could catch a fish. Shellfish in particular were deemed low class.
In fact boiled lobster tail was one of the few proteins he could eat in prison. Every once in a while the chef would feed it to them as a 'treat'. But that was only because no one else in the castle wanted it.
He shook the memory away as he tried to calm himself. Never again was he going back to gruel and stale bread; and if he wanted a lobster for dinner, he was sure as heck going to fix it himself the way he liked it and not have to beg for it from anybody!
Aunt Cass and Keri, however, did not notice Varian and Hiro's discussion involving lobsters. They were completely engrossed with each other, giggling over some in-joke that only they two shared. Hiro had gone back to sulking while eyeing the adults disapprovingly.
The tension was only dispersed when the waiter returned to take their orders. Krei rattled off a ridiculously intricate and flamboyant entrée as a suggestion and Aunt Cass agreed to try it. Hiro ordered the most expensive thing he could find on the menu, just to spite Keri, and Varian chose the steak.
"Well it looks like it'll be a while before dinner arrives, so I'm just going to go powder my nose. Be right back." Aunt Cass excused herself.
As soon as she was out of sight Hiro lunged at Keri.
He grabbed the older man by the shirt collar and held up his fork up menacingly.
"Okay, spill it Keri! What are you up to?" He ordered.
"Nothing." The man insisted. "Can't a guy do something nice for once?"
"Not when the guy is you he can't." Hiro said. "Aunt Cass dumped you, remember? It's over."
"Wait, they used to date?" Varian asked, clueless as to what was happening.
"One date," Keri corrected, "and no I'm not trying to get back together with your aunt. Honest."
Hiro eyed him suspiciously and Keri met his gaze steadily. Finally, Hiro relented and let go of the other guy's shirt.
"Then what do you want?" He asked, confused.
"I want your aunt to have a good birthday. Nothing more. So can we please just have a nice dinner without any more threats, or revenge plots hatched by disgruntled employees, or any other weird superhero-y stuff going on?"
Hiro reluctantly sat back down in silent agreement and that was when Aunt Cass returned. Soon thereafter the food arrived and dinner proceeded smoothly for the rest of the night.
                                                 ------------------------
"I tell ya work has been a nightmare since production started on this new phone line." Keri complained. "I'm at the office everyday it seems like."
"Oh I hear you," Aunt Cass agreed. "The Luck Cat has been swamped for weeks now. I haven't had a day off in almost a month."
Dinner was over and the little group stood outside waiting on their rides. The two boys looked on as the adults chatted. Aunt Cass and Keri had barely stopped conversing with each other the whole night and even Varian was starting to feel just a little left out.
But he had little right to be. When did Aunt Cass get the chance to just hang out with people her age and have fun? By her own admission she was usually either at work all day or taking care of them.
"Sounds like you could use a break." Keri said. "Oooh, crazy idea, I got a membership to a spa retreat up in Napa. They got hot springs and a killer buffet. I'm too busy to go right now, but I can schedule you a trip. You could bring a friend and have a weekend off. What do you say."
"Weeell I don't know... I mean it's tempting, don't get me wrong, but I got the café to take care of and who'll look after the boys?" Aunt Cass said.
"Well surely they're old enough to be on their own for a few days, and I can be on hand if they need anything."
"We can manage the café if you want to go to Aunt Cass." Varian chimed in, happy to help.
Hiro nudged him the ribs, hard.
Aunt Cass pouted and then forlornly shook her head.
"You sure?" Keri asked. "Cause it's no trouble to me. It's the least I can do after.. well, after what happened last time."
Aunt Cass raised an eyebrow and Keri held his hands up defensively.
"I'm not trying to ask you out again. Honest. I know that ship has sailed, and I also know that it was my fault. I just would like to apologize that's all."
"Oh Alistair, you don't need to buy me expensive things just to say 'I'm sorry'. "Aunt Cass smiled warmly at him before continuing on. "But the answer is still no. I just can't right now, not with everything that's going on."
"Well alright, but if you change your mind just give my secretary, Judy, a call. She'll arrange everything." And with that Keri handed Aunt Cass a business card and got into his limo which had just pulled up.
He waved goodbye to everyone before driving away.
                                                 ------------------------
"I think you should have taken Keri up on his offer." Varian said as they returned to the Luck Cat.
"Why, just so he can try and weasel his way back into Aunt Cass's life?" Hiro grumbled under his breath.
However, Aunt Cass heard him anyways. "Hey now, I can take care of myself, thank you very much." She admonished him. "But no, I'm not going. There's too much to do around here."
"Oh come on, I can look after the café for a few days." Varian insisted.
"And who's going to look after you?" Aunt Cass asked.
Varian looked hurt by that reply. "We can take care of ourselves."
"Oh like how you took care of my toaster?"
"That was an accident, and I put out the fire."
"Umm hmm, and the alarm clock?"
"I fixed it, and it works even better now."
"..and the dishwasher."
Varian opened his mouth to argue but then shut again quickly as he really had no excuse for that particular mishap. They were still finding pieces of broken china to this day.
Hiro snickered at their argument as he reached down under the counter to grab a donut.
The food he had ordered at the restaurant was some weird seafood monstrosity made of jellyfish, kelp, fish eggs, squid tentacles and other unidentifiable fishy bits and bobs. Rich people were weird, was all he had thought as he picked at his meal all night. He was still half starved.
"Oh laugh it up, mister 'I never wash a dish'." Varian shot back.
"I've cleaned dirty dishes before." Hiro said with his mouth full.
"Boys…" Aunt Cass groaned, ending their argument. "Look, I know things have been stressful these last few weeks, what with finals, and the café being busy… and well, everything else, but we can get through this if we stick together, as a family, and not have anymore petty squabbles."
She wrapped an arm around Varian's shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze as she smiled.
The 'everything else'  comment didn't go unnoticed by the two teens. Ever since Varian had come to live with them life had been turned upside down inside the Hamada home, in more ways than one, and while everyone was trying their best to adjust, there was still clearly friction over minor things, like chores and little mishaps here and there.
"That's why you should Aunt Cass." Varian insisted. "Finals end next week for us, but the café is still going to be busy no matter what. Why not let me and Hiro run the Luck Cat for a weekend? We can get along for just two days, surely."
"And we can call Chief Cruz if anything goes wrong." Hiro piped in.
Aunt Cass raised an eyebrow "I thought you didn't want me to go?"
"I just don't think you should fool with Keri, but of course, I'm all for you taking a break. Varian's right, you deserve a rest and a few days' of fun."
"Well, I mean, I could ask Tracy what she's up to next weekend, I guess…gee I haven't seen Trace in awhile..." Aunt Cass said as she mulled over their proposal.
"Who's Tracy?" Varian asked.
"She's Aunt Cass's roommate from college." Hiro answered.
"Ah…" Varian nodded in realization, but as soon as he was done Aunt Cass snapped out of her wishful reprieve.
"Oh no, I couldn't. It's too last minute. Besides I can still have fun here with you two." She flashed them a huge grin before walking upstairs.
Hiro ran after her, with Varian following behind. "Well in that case, you can open your presents then." He said.
"More presents?" She asked with a smile as she sat in her favorite comfy chair in the living room.
"Yup!" Hiro said as Varian brought out a gift bag that was hidden in his room, and Baymax, having heard his humans return home, came down the stairs carrying a wrapped box with a bow on top.
"Oh boys, you shouldn't have." She said.
"For you Aunt Cass. Happy Birthday." Baymax said in his usual clipped voice.
"Honey Lemon, Gogo, and Wasabi helped me pick something out for you."
"Oh how nice of them." Aunt Cass exclaimed as she opened up the gift. It was a cute apron with a matching headband and dish towel. In the pocket of the apron was a little booklet of printed recipes that Baymax had downloaded.
"See I told you that a cookbook was a good idea." Varian whispered to Hiro. The other boy shushed him.
"Oh thank you Baymax. I love it." Aunt Cass said as she flipped through the book. As she was reading Mochi, curled up in her lap.
"Do you have a birthday gift for me too, Mochi." She cooed at the cat as she scratched under its chin. The cat of course gave no answer other than a purr.
"I doubt he does, but I think Ruddiger made you something." Varian said in all seriousness.
With that the raccoon popped his head up over the top of the chair, startling Aunt Cass. The forest creature gave her an affectionate nuzzle, causing her to laugh, before jumping down and running off.
Only to immediately return dragging something along the ground with it's mouth.
Once the raccoon had made it back to the chair, it turned around and lifted the thing up with it's paws, as if offering it to her.
It was a plate, and on the plate was an apple inside a cupcake liner with whipped cream swirled on top and a single lighted candle stuck in the center.
"Ooooh how adorable!" She laughed.
"Make a wish!" Varian insisted.
She did and blew out the single candle easily.
"An apple cupcake; oh how did you ever come up with such a clever idea?" She asked of Varian.
"Oh I didn't. It was all Ruddiger. I saw him in the kitchen earlier today putting it together."
This gave Aunt Cass pause. Raccoons were smart, true, but the idea of one actually cooking was ridiculous. But the sheer earnestness of Varian's comment left her confused as to if he was pulling her leg or not.
Ruddiger for his part, looked as proud as he could be, for a raccoon, as he crawled up Varian's back and perched himself on the boy's arm.  
"I guess he figured you'd enjoy the same stuff he likes. Oh and don't worry I rescued the cool whip can from him before he could eat the rest."
Aunt Cass tried very hard to keep the smile on her face as the news of the wild creature rummaging in her food stores, again, was made known. She gave a tense laugh, "Well I hope the kitchen is clean by tomorrow before the rush."
The implication in her voice was not lost on Varian. "Already done."  He chirped and Aunt Cass sighed in relief.
"There's one more present." Hiro said as he took the gift bag from Varian. "It's from the both of us."
A lump formed in Aunt Cass's throat as she pulled out the gift. It was a framed photograph, of all three of them hugging.
"I had Baymax snap the photo earlier so you wouldn't notice and had prints made." Hiro explained.
"And I bought the frame so you could hang it up." Varian added.
She couldn't stop the tears from flowing as she choked back her gratitude. Instead she excitedly jumped up and ran around the room looking for the perfect place to put it. T'was a difficult task as she already had so many photos scattered throughout the home.
Finally she decided to hang it up on the wall next to the staircase, right alongside an earlier family portrait, this one depicting Tadashi as a young kid and Hiro not much older than a baby.
"I love it." She finally said through her tears, as she stepped back to admire it. "It's the best birthday present I've ever gotten."
The two boys walked over to join her and she wrapped them in a hug that mirrored the one in the picture.
                                                 ------------------------
Hiro carried the tray full of dishes into the cafe's back kitchen. He placed the heavy load onto the counter and let out a sigh. He then took a moment to gather himself before heading back out into the fray.
The Lucky Cat was packed today; more so than usual. He had volunteered to help out now that his final project was done ahead of schedule, only for them to get slammed with a bus load of tourists in the first 10 mins of opening, on top of the  regular customers who usually ate breakfast there.
No good deed goes unpunished; he dryly thought.
Just then Aunt Cass walked into the kitchen as well.
"Phew, it's like a madhouse out there. Have you seen Varian this morning? I know I told him he could have the day off, but I might have to ask him for a rain check on that."
Hiro shook his head. The other boy had left before sunrise, leaving only a text that he was going down to the pier. For what reason though, Hiro could only guess.
He didn't have to wonder for long however, for Varian returned at that moment.
"I didn't!" He sang as he burst through the back door carrying a small wooden crate in one hand.
"Did what?" Hiro asked.
"I caught a lobster." Varian eagerly replied. "See?" And with that he held up the fisherman's trap close to Hiro, who jumped back when a claw emerged from between the gaps in the wooden planks and snapped at him.
Unfortunately there wasn't anywhere to run to and so Hiro wound up crawling onto the counter to escape the creepy creature that Varian teased him with.
Hiro wasn't the only one in the household who didn't care for the lobster either. Ruddiger popped out of the storage cabinet he had been hiding in and crawled up upon Hiro's shoulder and hissed at the invading new animal.
This did not make Hiro any more
comfortable.
Varian though was blissfully grinning ear to ear, too proud of his accomplishment to notice or care about their disapproval.
"I caught him this morning. He's got to be at least 16, no 17, pounds! I've never seen one so big. He barely fits into my homemade fishing crate."
"That's great sweetie," Aunt Cass said with a strained smile, "what are you going to do with him? Have lobster thermidor for supper?"
Varian's smile deflated somewhat as he sheepishly tried to explain to Aunt Cass the circumstances that he found himself in.
"Well that was the plan when I went out fishing this morning, buuut, I kind of, sort of, named him."
And with that admission he hugged the crate as if cuddling a kitten.
This proved to be a bad idea though. As the lobster did not like to be cuddled. It turned its claws to snap at Varian instead who dropped the crate in surprise. The fishing trapped shattered and broke apart upon hitting the ground, freeing the creature inside. Then before anyone could stop it, the overgrown crustacean scurried out the swinging doors and into the café.
"Lorenzo!" Varian called out after it as he ran to catch it once more.
Both Hiro and Aunt Cass stood there dumbstruck as the screams of customers and loud clattering noises, that sounded suspiciously like china breaking, could be heard through the other side of the door.
Hiro snagged a weary sidelong glance at his aunt wondering what she might do. All she did was just stand there, wide eyed, unblinking, with shocked dread upon her face.
The clean up of this mess was going to be a nightmare. She'd probably have to spend hours refunding customers, apologizing profusely to them, and practically begging them not to give her a bad rating online.
Hiro took pity on her, and fished out Keri's business card and her phone out of her purse which was hung up on the coat rack by the back door.
"Here," he said as he handed the phone and card to her, "maybe you should take up that offer." Then he also ran back into the café to help Varian catch the wayward lobster.
On his way out the door he heard Aunt Cass say over the phone, "Hello, is this Judy? Hi I was calling back about the spa…"
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byunbaekby · 3 years
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title — bloom again (teaser #1) pairing — racer!jaemin x female reader genres — angst, fluff, racer au, slight college au, strangers to lovers, mutual pining, love triangle, hurt and comfort overall warnings  (to be updated) — language, cheating, mentions of abuse, depictions of a toxic/abusive relationship (not between jaemin and the reader), optional smut, illegal street racing, mentions of drugs teaser warnings — none teaser word count — 1.7k words summary — the world has never been kind to na jaemin. left alone with a deadbeat mother, he's learned how to survive on his own. now twenty and a college student whose life and vitality (not to mention his rent) relies solely on his success in his career as an illegal street racer, he runs alone. everything he has, he’s fought for with his own hands and grit. he’s never asked for anything, which is what makes the world so cruel: when he finally meets someone who he desires for more than a night, you already belong to someone else. additional — for the racer collab, created by the wonderful @ickjun and managed by the one and only @lucas-wongs​ !!
projected release — may/june 2021 projected word count — 20k
send an ask to be added to the tag list!
-
CASIA APARTMENTS [8:12AM] 
It’s an early Saturday morning. It’s laundry day, and due to Jaemin’s affinity for avoiding unnecessary social interaction as much as possible, he wanted to be first in the laundry room. 
As he pushes open the door to the laundry room, basket of clothes in hand, Jaemin catches sight of a lone figure, wrapped within the confines of a fluffy white blanket. His first thought is that this person, whoever they are, resembles a marshmallow. Choosing not to comment, he walks over to an available washer and begins piling his clothes inside. 
“Oh?” He hears, uttered in a muffled yelp. “Blue.”
Though he initially places his focus on his clothes, his attention is piqued by the sudden calling of a nickname. He finds himself face to face with you once again, your visage hidden between two fluffy white sheets. Your lips are lifted into an inevitable smile, stripping yourself of the blanket to stuff it in a washer. 
“I might have to think you’re following me around now,” you joke.
Seeing who you are now behind the blanket, a comfortable smile makes its way across his lips, smooth as butter as his gaze falls upon your familiar face. “It might seem that way.” It seems his usual antisocial disposition has faded away in the presence of this marshmallow-like girl. “I actually have reason to think it’s you following me.” 
“Is that it? Well, enlighten me, Blue, because I can assure you it’s the other way around,” you say dramatically, reverting back to your goofy demeanor. The two of you press the buttons upon the machines, beginning your washers at a similar start before you make your way to a vacant bench on the sidelines. 
“Hm.” A playful look of deliberation makes home across the male’s visage, and he tilts his head slightly for good measure, as though he were in thought. “Well for one, I didn’t trip on anything last time, but you happened to be there when I did. Maybe…” He trails. “You tripped me just so you could hang out with me.”
You gasp, shaking your head profusely before placing an entirely harmless smack on his shoulder. “I believe you’re framing me. For you tripping, I think you’re underestimating just how clumsy you are.” 
He rolls his eyes. “Whatever you say, marshmallow.” 
“Marshmallow? Is that your nickname for me now?”
It wasn’t that he had been trying to find a fitting nickname for you recently, but it had crossed his mind. “Yeah, you’re a marshmallow. It just came to me. Now we both have nicknames for each other.”
“That’s cute, I like it.” You nod. You could get used to him calling you that, much like he could with your choice of nickname. “Marshmallow and Blue, us against the world. Laundry buddies.”
“We sound like a lame superhero team,” he comments.
Your hands raise out of defense, teeth now sinking in the plushness of your lower lip in a feeble attempt to hide your ever-growing grin. “No one was supposed to see me in my marshmallow form. Superheroes gotta hide their identity, y’know? I’d like to say you aren’t very slick with yours,” you say, gesturing up to his full head of blue tresses. Your palms slightly rub at your face, and as a yawn slips through your tiers, you fail to confine it. 
“Tired?” asks Jaemin.
“Mm, a bit,” you tell him. “I was up late last night studying.” Suddenly he stands, and your gaze follows him. He makes his way over to his basket, and with curiosity brewing you ask, “Any plans for tonight?” 
“No, not beside studying and maybe Netflix,” he responds as he pulls out a blanket from the bottom of his basket (which he had planned to wash in a second load). He pulls to him one of the laundry carts and meticulously lays his blanket over it, creating a cushioned nest. 
You didn’t need to know that he had a race sometime tonight, and would likely nap in a couple hours after completing his laundry to prepare for the long night he had ahead of him. His typical Friday night race had been cancelled due to tip-offs from the police, but he had caught word of an unfamiliar race a little bit out of town. Instead, he gestures to the makeshift bed he’s made, a playful smile tugging at his lips. It’s an attempt to help the fatigue that drapes over your eyes.
“Get in.” 
First confusion adorns your features before realization sinks in, and you stand with an enthused smile. Climbing in with a laugh, you ease in, frame fitting inside. 
“Here, push me. Like a speed racer!” One step further, you place your hands onto each side of the laundry cart, exuding sheer eagerness and no longer that exhaustion that had shown moments before. 
“I thought you were tired and wanted to sleep,” he comments at your willingness to be pushed around, as though he were some kind of amusement park ride.
“I thought I was too, but this is better.”
“I’ll tire you out so you can sleep well later,” he says, preparing to push you around in circles through the laundry room. Nonetheless, he starts to move you, pushing you alone. First, he starts out slow, trying his best to maneuver your large conjoined figure about the small room.
Deliberate chuckles leave your lips, subconsciously leaning against his chest without meaning to. As he relishes in the sweet euphoria of your giggles, all he wants to do is keep hearing this sound.
So to pleasure his own desires, he runs a bit faster, picking up the speed whilst also trying to avoid crashing into the large machines. He was a racer, after all. Though this was surely a much smaller scale race than he was accustomed to. Smoothly, he drifts into a circle, spinning the two of you whilst an unfamiliar laugh pours from his lips. This earns him a mellifluous guffaw from you. It’s unlike him; you bring out a new side of him.  
You attempt to muffle your chortles into his chest. The blue-haired boy is caught off guard by the sudden action; this shock, instigated by the pressing of your flesh against his, causes him to nearly pummel into the machine before you. 
Luckily, Jaemin’s fast instincts from collective years of high speed racing causes him to turn before the collision, narrowly avoiding a disaster. He comes to a slow stop, breath accelerated.
“Sorry,” you laugh, pulling your face out to laugh once more. “I’m giving you a workout.” 
Your face is contorted into a bright expression, sparkles lighting up your eyes as you gaze up at him mid-laugh. Jaemin gulps.
Even if he’s never been subject to a committed relationship, Jaemin is no fool to attraction. And that is where he feels wrong: there is someone else in your life, someone who deserves you much more than he. 
This is wrong. Not because it feels wrong, but because Jaemin knows it is.
There’s a moment, a prolonged period where the two of you stare at each other. Having been caught in a joyous laugh, your eyes still sparkle as you gaze at him from where you sit in the laundry cart. You’re looking at him so fondly, and without thinking, Jaemin’s hand reaches up to guide a few stray strands of your hair behind the shell of your ear.
You’re blinking, seemingly dumbfounded at his gesture. Your head angles slightly, barely leaning into his touch.
For a moment, likely the shortest sliver of time to ever exist in the universe, time is stilled. All that lives in the moment is the two of you, alone in this laundry room. Fingers lingering so softly against the gentle fabric of your skin, Jaemin can do little but stare. It’s comfortable, fleeting. 
Until the two of you realize just what you’re doing. It hits the both of you at a hundred miles per hour. 
Red flag. 
You straighten suddenly, and Jaemin immediately retracts his hand. As if on cue, the noises from your washing machines come to a stop. For a moment, you don’t speak. “Come on, let’s… put our stuff in the dryer.”
A cough sounds from Jaemin’s throat. “Yeah… let’s.”
Without his help, you prop yourself out of the cushioned cart and flutter over to your machine, unloading your clothes with your back to him. It’s clear what is going on in both your minds: Replaying the scene. Reminiscing the other’s laughter.
No, this is wrong—on a multitude, absolutely endless stream of levels. You have a boyfriend, someone for you back home.
The best thing you both can do is… ignore it. Yeah, that’s the better option. 
Jaemin finishes stuffing his load into the dryer first, and because he cannot look at you, he turns away to place his focus upon the laundry cart which was once your object of amusement. Now, he grabs the blanket he had placed inside and folds it meticulously. He cannot suppress these feelings. 
But he has to, and the only way he knows how to is to eject himself.
“I’ve actually uh… got a lot of assignments to do.” Looking around the virtually empty laundry room, he looks to you, offering an apologetic smile. “I’ll probably leave this here and come back when the hour is done.” 
You don’t respond for a moment.
“Oh,” you say after a prolonged pause, and even Jaemin can hear just how evident the disappointment is in your tone. “Alright. Well… Have a good rest of your day, Blue. Thanks for spending some time with me.”
He resents that. That you’re still so kind to him, despite him running away. But he knows himself, and the only way to ignore whatever these… feelings are, he needs to avoid them. The feeling of guilt that rushes over him upon seeing the deflated change in your demeanor, like a bucket of ice cold water poured upon him, is almost enough to make him stay.
Almost. 
“You too, Marshmallow,” he responds before exiting the room with his folded blanket, leaving you with the sickening feeling that he no longer wanted to be in your presence.
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inkedstarlight · 4 years
Text
Elriel: Halloween Edition
Summary: Azriel and his son go trick-or-treating and stop by Elain's house. They have an adorable encounter. Later that night, Elain goes to Feyre's house for the Halloween party she's throwing and meets her boyfriend, Rhys. Rhysand's brothers also come to the party and Elain runs into Azriel yet again. Let the romance ensue. Basically just a shit ton of fluff. Note: Read it here on AO3!
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There was nothing Elain Archeron loved more than giving candy out to little kids on Halloween. Which is why she was currently sitting on her living room couch in her costume, the bowl of candy in her lap as she patiently waited for the first trick-or-treater to come.
It was the first Halloween that she’ll have spent in her new house. She’d recently moved from her studio apartment to a small, two-bedroom house just outside the city. After being promoted from teacher to principal at the elementary school she’d worked at for more than five years, Elain figured a little change was in order.
Unfortunately, the new neighborhood was a bit further from her sisters than her apartment had been. They both lived in the city, Feyre taught painting lessons at the local art store while Nesta worked as a software developer at a start-up tech company. Feyre had also recently moved; her boyfriend of only seven months, Rhysand, asked her to move in with him. Elain hadn't yet met him but from what Feyre had told her, he seemed like he treated her sister really well. But Elain would be the judge of that.
Well, more like Nesta would be the judge of that. Elain was certain that her older sister was going to interrogate the poor man until she's squeezed out his darkest secrets. Nesta had a... unique way with people. Unconventional, but it'd been effective thus far.
Tonight was particularly exciting because the couple was hosting a small Halloween bash at their place. Elain had been bugging Feyre for weeks to properly introduce Rhysand to her and Nesta. Their schedules very rarely matched up.
The doorbell rang, pulling Elain from her thoughts and back to the present. She glanced at the clock. It was four-thirty in the evening. The sun still shone bright in the sky.
She grinned to herself. Let the trick or treating commence.
Jumping up from where she sat, Elain excitedly made her way to the front of the house. She swung the door open. What she saw on her porch melted her damn heart.
A little boy, no older than six, was dressed as a firefighter. He had a tiny hard hat on his head, his chocolate hair curling out from underneath. A dalmatian stuffed animal was tucked under his arm, his other hand clutching a jack-o-lantern bucket for candy. His eyelashes were impossibly long as he looked up at her with wide eyes and a goofy smile. It was contagious.
Elain also noticed that he was alone, no adult in sight.
“Trick or treat!” the boy greeted her.
“Happy Halloween!” Elain replied with a giggle. She put her bowl of candy on the ground to kneel in front of him. She looked around. “Is someone with you?”
“Yeah,” the kid sighed like he just got out of a stressful work meeting. Elain inwardly smiled. “My daddy. But he kept talking and talking about why he thought Mounds was his favorite candy, even though it’s obviously the worst.”
The boy stopped to look at her as if waiting for her to agree. Elain nodded her head vigorously. Naturally.
“He was just talking so much,” the little boy continued. He gestured for Elain to come closer before whisper-shouting, “You know, I really think he needs a girl in his life –”
“TOBIAS!” a strong, male voice called out.
“Uh-oh,” the boy, Tobias, muttered under his breath. He looked up at Elain with pleading eyes. “Don’t let me get in trouble.”
Elain suppressed her laugh and nodded at him. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Tobias held out his pinky finger. "Pinky promise?"
"Pinky promise," Elain swore. Gods, this kid was a gem.
Elain watched as a man approached her yard. His face was twisted with frustration, presumably because his son ran away, but he was… beautiful. Elain sucked in a breath as she ran her eyes up and down his body. He was wearing a loose white shirt, slightly sheer, that had a very deep V. The sleeves were cut off messily and he wore a fake sword on his hip. He was a pirate. A sexy pirate. But it was definitely a costume that wasn't advertised as 'sexy.' No, it was the man wearing it that made it sexy. And to make it even better, he looked as if he’d thrown it on last minute when his son reminded him it was Halloween.
The man stopped in front of Tobias. He crossed his arms, paying no mind to Elain.
“You’re in big trouble."
“But –”
“We’ve talked about this, Tobias. You can’t just run away from someone when you get bored.”
Now Elain really had to hold in her laugh. She covered it with a cough.
That's when Tobias’s father realized they had an audience. He directed his authoritative stare to Elain, and his hazel eyes immediately softened. She did her best to not fidget as his eyes ran over her. He must have seen the humor on her face because his lips twitched upward.
 Fucking adorable.
“Sorry about my son,” he said sincerely, shooting a glare at an oblivious Tobias from the corner of his eye. “I’m Azriel. And you are?”
“Elain," she told him with a shy smile.
“Elain,” he echoed, testing it out on his tongue. Shivers ran down Elain’s arms. His voice was like velvet. She could listen to him repeat her name over and over again for hours.
Stop being so creepy.
“You, uh –” Azriel stumbled over his words awkwardly as he tried to find the words. “I love your costume.”
Elain blushed appreciatively. But before she could thank him, Tobias groaned.
“C’mon, Daddy, that was so lame. Get her phone number or something.”
Elain clapped a hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking as she nearly lost it. It was Azriel’s turn to blush this time.
“Tobs, now’s not the time –”
“But she’s so pretty and nice! I already love her,” he pouted up at his father.
Azriel mumbled incoherent words as he tried to usher his son off the porch. “We should really go,” Azriel said, trying to avoid eye contact with her. He was so awkward. She loved it. “I’m so sorry again.”
“Wait!" Elain blurted out, trying to delay his departure. Azriel looked at her and she gave him a sheepish smile. "You forgot to grab some candy."
Tobias didn't need to be told twice. Elain held out the bowl for him to choose. He fished around for a while before picking three Skittles packages. Elain gave him a wink before turning to Azriel.
“Everyone should get candy on Halloween,” she grinned at him.
He looked at her curiously before smiling gratefully and taking a piece of candy without even looking to see the options.
“Thank you, Elain," he said, his tone sincere and soft. She nearly melted right there.
"Happy Halloween," she murmured as she watched Azriel back away, Tobias looking at his father as if he had two heads. Azriel seemed to be in a daze, giving Elain a small wave as he continued to walk backwards. He stumbled over his own feet, earning a laugh from Elain. Then, he finally turned around and walked out of sight.
---------------------------
“It’s so wonderful to meet you!” Elain exclaimed, ignoring the hand that Rhysand held out and going straight in for a hug.
“Don’t suffocate him,” Feyre joked as she watched them embrace.
Elain had arrived to their place a couple minutes early, eager to meet her sister’s boyfriend. Elain backed away to let Nesta introduced herself. Elain leaned over to Feyre.
“You didn’t tell me how cute he is,” Elain whispered with a giggle.
Feyre laughed. “Did I mention he has two brothers?”
Elain’s jaw dropped. “No, you seemed to have conveniently left that part out.”
“Well, they’ll be here soon,” Feyre said with a twinkle in her eye. “And they’re both single.”
Nesta turned to them as they laughed secretively. Rhysand followed her gaze. “What are you two giggling about?”
Before Feyre had a chance to answer, the doorbell rang. She excused herself, Rhysand right on her tail.
Elain looked over at her older sister to see her glaring down at her. “Let me guess: you guys were talking about Rhysand’s brothers.”
“How’d you know?”
Nesta let out an exasperated sigh. “She’s already tried to set me up with one of them.”
“I’m guessing it didn’t go well?”
Nesta scoffed. “Horribly. She failed to mention that he was a grade A –”
“Fancy seeing you here, sweetheart,” a low voice interrupted Nesta’s rant.
A man approached them, hands in pockets as he strutted confidently. His long brown hair was tied up in a messy bun and a five o’clock shadow on his sharp jaw. Elain watched as her sister dragged her hands down her face and groaned at the mere sight of him. That only made him chuckle deeply.
“Miss me?”
Nesta ignored his comment and reluctantly gestured to him. “Elain, this is Cassian. Cassian, this is my other sister Elain.”
Cassian shot her a goofy grin and reached out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Elain. I’ve never seen anyone rock fairy wings like you are.”
Elain couldn’t help but blush. “Thank you.”
Nesta rolled her eyes. “Ugh, stop charming everyone!”
“I’m irresistible, sweetheart,” Cassian batted his eyelashes.
“I need a drink,” Nesta muttered to herself before walking away and in the direction of the kitchen.
Cassian winked at Elain before following her sister. “I could use a drink too!"
Elain listened to them bicker as they walked away, a smile touching her lips.
Over the next couple hours, more and more people arrived at Rhysand and Feyre’s place. It soon got crowded, Elain unable to hear over the booming music and incessant chatter.
She was sitting on an loveseat in the corner watching Cassian trying to convince Nesta to dance with him when she heard a familiar voice.
"Sorry I'm so late, the babysitter cancelled last minute and I had to find a replacement."
Elain's head snapped to the foyer where Feyre and Rhys stood with another man. Elain got a glimpse of his face as he took off his jacket, and her suspicions were confirmed.
It was Azriel.
Elain's heart was beating out of her chest as she watched Feyre lead Azriel into the living room where she sat.
Then he spotted her.
He stopped dead in his tracks, Feyre continuing to walk and talk, not noticing that she no longer had his attention. No, his eyes were on Elain and Elain alone.
Elain gave him a little wave. Azriel's lips turned into a full out smile as he caught up to Feyre, who had been leading him to Elain anyway. Presumably to introduce him to her and Nesta.
"Azriel, this is -"
"Elain," he finished. His eyes were still on her, disbelief on his face.
Feyre looked between them confusedly. "Do you guys know each other?"
"Uh..." Elain started, unsure of what to say. "Sort of?"
"I went out with Tobias and we incidentally stopped by her house," Azriel explained.
"Well," Feyre said with a mischievous grin. "I guess I'll leave you guys to it." She shot Elain a look that said, You should make a move.
And just like that, they were alone.
Azriel took a seat beside Elain, leaving only a couple inches between them as he turned his body toward her. He smelled amazing.
"So, you're Feyre's sister, huh?" Azriel gazed at her earnestly and bumped his shoulder against hers. "I guess that means we'll be seeing a lot of each other."
Elain bit her lip to stop herself from grinning like an idiot. "No complaints here."
A comfortable silence fell between them as they watched others dancing and drinking. The current song faded out and "Creep" by Radiohead began to play.
"Would you, um... would you like to dance?" Azriel asked her tentatively.
Oh my gods, yes! What kind of question is that?
"I would love to," Elain exclaimed.
Azriel stood and held out his hand. The moment Elain took his hand with her own, she was a goner.
He led them to the makeshift dance floor before bringing her hand to his shoulder and grabbing her waist gently with his hand. Fire shot through Elain when his thumb circled idly on her palm. Then, he pulled her in close.
"This okay?" Azriel murmured, his lips brushing against her ear. She shivered and nodded.
"Did I mention," he continued, spinning them in a slow circle, "that you are absolutely gorgeous?"
Elain hid her face against his shoulder to smile widely before craning her neck to look at with him, a twinkle in her eye. "I think you were too busy tripping over your own feet to mention that."
Azriel tipped back his head and laughed loudly. She loved the sound. "You wound me, Elain," he told her, but Elain could see the faint blush in his cheeks. He leaned in to whisper, "You're right though. You make me nervous."
The music swelled, and Azriel guided both of Elain's hands to cup the back of his neck. He encircled his arms around her waist until their bodies were flush against each other, their foreheads touching.
"I like Tobias. He's a great kid."
Azriel's entire body seemed to relax as he gave her an easy smile. "He's a handful, and I love him."
"I can tell," Elain told him. "You're a good dad."
"Thank you." Azriel huffed out a laugh. "You're something else, Elain Archeron."
Elain leaned her head back and she searched his hazel eyes. "Is that a good thing?"
Something unreadable flashed in his eyes. "Yes."
And then he was capturing her lips in his to give Elain the sweetest kiss she'd ever had.
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tag list (lmk if you want to be added/removed): @sjmships​ @sleeping-and-books​ @sirgwaines​ @books-for-sure​ @blowing-mikey​ @b00kworm​ @wineywitch202​ @liquifyme​ @maastrash​ @thewayshedreamed​
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